A network of automatic weather and snow stations and supplementary model calculations providing snowpack information for avalanche warning

construct a network of high Alpine automatic weather and snow measurement stations in the Summer of 1996. Presently 35 stations are in operation and another 25 stations will be on-line before the Summer of 1999. The stations measure wind, air temperature, relative humidity, snow depth, surface temperature, ground (soil) temperature, reflected short wave radiation and three temperatures within the snowpack. The measurements are transferred hourly to the SLF in Davos and the data are used to drive a finite-element based physical snowpack model. The model runs every hour and provides supplementary information regarding the state of the snowpack at the sites of the automatic stations. New snow amounts, settling rates, possible surface hoar formation, temperature and density profiles as well as the metamorphic development of the snowpack are all predicted by the model. The model is connected to a relational data base which stores the measurements as well as the model results. New visualization tools are available which allow a fast, easy and comprehensive access to the stored data. The model has been tested in quasi-operational mode during the Winter of 1997 / 98. The calculation is reliable in terms of the energy budget and the mass balance. The description of snow metamorphism is currently being improved. The model will be fully operational in the Winter of 1998/99 and will be used by local, regional and national avalanche forecasters