Alpine Space “Permanet” Handbook to Establish Alpine Permafrost
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Alpine Space “PermaNet” Permafrost long-term monitoring Network Handbook to establish alpine permafrost monitoring network July 2011 WP4 – Permafrost monitoring network (WP coordinator: Arpa Piemonte, Italy) FINAL REPORT Handbook to establish alpine permafrost monitoring network Output 4.2: Recommendations for building up national monitoring networks Output 4.4: handbook for the installation and maintenance of an Alpine-wide permafrost monitoring network Edited by Paro, Luca (Dept. Geologia e dissesto, Arpa Piemonte, Italy) Guglielmin, Mauro (DBSF, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Italy) Sponsored and supported by Alpine Space Project “PermaNet – Permafrost long-term monitoring network” (http://www.permanet-alpinespace.eu/) The PermaNET project is part of the European Territorial Cooperation and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the scope of the Alpine Space Programme (www.alpine-space.eu). Lead Partner: - Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano, Uff. Geologia e Prove Materiali (I) Project Partner: - Bayerisches Landesamt für Umwelt, Abteilung 10: Geologischer Dienst, Wirtschaftsgeologie, Bodenschutz (D) - Arpa Piemonte – Geologia e dissesto (I) - Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta, Assessorato territorio, Ambiente e Opere Pubbliche, Dipartimento Territorio, Ambiente e Risorse Idriche, Direzione Ambiente (I) - Regione del Veneto, Direzione Geologia e Attività Estrattive, Servizio Geologia (I) - Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Protezione Civile e Tutela del Territorio, Servizio Geologico (I) - Österreichisches Bundesministerium für Landwirtschaft, Forstwirtshaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft (A) - Universität Innsbruck, Institut für Geographie (A) - Universität Graz, Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung (A) - Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik, Regionalstelle für Salzburg und Oberösterreich (A) - Université Joseph Fourier – Grenoble I, Institut de Géographie Alpine, Laboratoire PACTE (F) - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – Laboratoire EDYTEM (F) - Grenoble INP, GIPSA Lab (F) - Bundesamt für Umwelt BAFU (CH) Acknowledgment Wp4 coordinator and the editors of the final report wish to express their gratitude to the Wp4 team and all other involved people for the great contribution in Wp4 activities and for the preparation of this report. Cover photo: Mt. Moro Pass, Italy (by Arpa Piemonte) 2 Summary Preface Page 3 Permafrost monitoring network of PermaNet project 5 1. International networks and recommendation for a national permafrost 11 monitoring network Output 4.2: Recommendations for building up national monitoring networks 2. Handbook to establish alpine permafrost monitoring network 14 Output 4.4: handbook for the installation and maintenance of an Alpine- wide permafrost monitoring network GST - Ground Surface Temperature 15 Ground near-surface temperature on steep rockwall 20 BTS - Bottom temperature of snow cover 28 Thermal monitoring of the Active Layer 34 Thermal monitoring of the Permafrost 38 2 Alpine Space “PermaNet” Project Work Package 4 “Permafrost monitoring network” Preface The knowledge linked to glacial and The increasing tourist activities in high periglacial processes in alpine areas is mountain areas and the economic heterogeneous and incomplete. development linked to natural resources Particularly, most aspects related to exploitation, are under discussion in the climate change and its effects on the Alps frame of the future scenarios. are unknown or quantitatively not studied. Recently, in the actual frame of climate Glaciers retreat, permafrost change, the awareness of the scientific degradation, perturbations of the water community and regional administration for regime and slope instability in mountains, the “hidden part” of cryosphere, the will produce major consequences for permafrost, is getting higher. Alpine mountainous inhabitants and for people permafrost distribution is still generally living downstream, outside of the unknown, although several authors in the mountains, who heavily depend on past analyzed its the distribution and the hydrological resources. main characteristics of some permafrost indicators such as the rock glaciers. Regional administration, responsible authority for natural risks and water In most mountain regions, the climate resources management, is facing new change reduces the extent and the events, not considered before the 1990s: volume of glaciers, the amount of debris flows and landslides triggered in permafrost and the seasonal snow cover. permafrost areas, river discharge Along with changes of the precipitation reducing especially in the summer period, regime and quantity, soil stability and drought, extreme runoff and flood events, water resources are affected and a large etc. range of socioeconomic activities (e.g., agriculture, tourism, hydropower, and The challenge of regional authority is logging) are compromised. to experiment pilot projects with the application and implementation of new management approaches on permafrost 3 areas. Strategic instruments and methods existing knowledge of monitoring for a sustainable use of the mountainous mountain permafrost and new areas must be developed. The experiences gained within this project. transnational cooperation, through the exchange of knowledge and ideas, offers the possibility to harmonize the different Governance approaches. The main goals of this monitoring network towards a governance aspects, are: The Permafrost Monitoring Network - application and dissemination of The core of “PermaNet” project is the strategic approaches to land use creation of measuring stations for the planning and managing, through monitoring of the main climatological new governance processes; parameters of the near surface - development of a communication atmosphere and the permafrost thermal network to support participation regime. Location of the monitoring sites processes; will be established on the basis of the - development of cooperation geologic, climatologic and logistic instruments to promote natural features. heritage as a basis for a Thermal regime will be monitored sustainable living in Alpine Space; through the installation of thermistors or - to promote the creation of an thermocouples settled within boreholes expert team in Alpine Space to (few cm to a hundred m deep) drilled in face problems linked to future bedrock and in deposits. scenarios of the climate changes in mountainous areas. The common task is that the long-term monitoring activity will continue beyond the end of the PermaNet project, allowing the evaluation of the development of alpine permafrost degradation or aggradation. It is absolutely fundamental, that PermaNet project builds up a network that is well planned, remains useful and operational in the long run, and leads to policy-relevant knowledge that can support future decisions. Key tasks for this are: I) the selection of the monitoring parameters, II) the key sites, and III) the standardization of the setting up of both, national and trans-national structures for the monitoring system to ensure long- term continuation and data quality. And not least, the release of a handbook, as also planned in WP4, should reflect both, 4 Permafrost monitoring network of PermaNet project Monitoring site (see details in the next pages) 5 6 Permafrost monitoring network of PermaNet project PermaNET collects the metadata of shallower depths, generally less than 15 the most important permafrost monitoring m, ground temperatures experience an sites and compiles it into a standardized annual temperature cycle and it is permafrost monitoring network (only in desirable to have several measurements the area included in the project). On key throughout the year, at a minimum spring monitoring sites, new monitoring stations and fall but ideally monthly. Data loggers have been installed and instrumented. may be utilized for daily measurement of shallow temperatures to reduce the The PermaNet Alpine-wide monitoring number of site visits and provide a network now consists of about 50 continuous record of ground monitoring sites which are measuring temperatures (GST). different parameters and characteristics of permafrost in rock and debris covered The surficial part of the ground soils. The installation of new monitoring (sediment or bedrock), in the permafrost stations was partly financed by the context, that experienced seasonal frost- PermaNet project. The maintenance over thawing cycles is named “active layer”. At long periods is guaranteed by the institute most active layer monitoring sites, the or authority that installed the monitoring maximum thickness of the active layer is station. determined. However seasonal progression of the active layer, may also General information be monitored at sites of intensive In order to supplement the monitoring investigations for process understanding. network and to guarantee the compatibility of the measured data, a set Typical morphological elements in the of guidelines for the installation and periglacial environment are rock glaciers. maintenance of the monitoring stations These debris bodies are located in the have been formulated. upper part of cirques or of slopes; if they are dynamically active, they flow Permafrost temperatures define the downward and indicate the probable thermal state of permafrost and are presence of permafrost. obtained by lowering a calibrated thermistor into a borehole, or recording PermaNet network includes different temperature from multi-sensor cables types of permafrost monitoring, briefly permanently