Snow and Ice

8 June is World Oceans Day. The SLF is also conducting research in the ocean, namely on sea ice. In a short interview Ruzica Dadic, head of the research unit Snow and Atmosphere at the SLF, talks about the motivation for and the goals of these studies.

Digital tools such as artificial intelligence make it possible for environmental researchers to access larger data pools and generate new scientific findings. WSL uses these tools in a wide variety of ways. For instance, they offer support with making more precise predictions about danger zones in snow and avalanche research.

SLF researchers chase snow crystals around in circles in the wind tunnel. This is how they track down snow phenomena.

The SLF Permafrost research group is monitoring ground temperatures in permafrost and using new methods to measure the increasing water content caused by climate change, allowing for improved assessments of natural hazards and future water availability in the Alps.

Ice cores are a unique climate archive. Thanks to a new method developed by researchers at the University of Bern and Empa, greenhouse gas concentrations in 1.5 million year old ice can be measured even more accurately. The EU project “Beyond EPICA” with the participation of the University of Bern aims to recover such old ice in Antarctica.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has appointed the SLF to be the world's leading competence centre for snow monitoring. The WMO's Infrastructure Commission based its decision on the fact that the SLF already possesses high-quality measuring infrastructure and over 80 years of knowledge.