Kartierung und Regionalisierung von Permafrostindikatoren im Rieserfernergebiet (Südtirol/Osttirol)

In the Rieserferner-Ahrn Nature Park (South Tyrolean Alps, Italy) a detailed mapping of the spatial distribution of permafrost phenomena is carried out in order to provide the basis for natural hazards analyses. The study is based on the surveying of the characteristics of geomorphological, hydrological and physical permafrost indicators, such as rock glaciers, ice-cored debris and moraine deposits, perennial snow patches, temperatures at the base of the winter snow cover (BTS) as well as temperatures and electrical conductivity of melt water. By means of a statistical model an analysis is made as to what extent the spatial density of perennial snow patches is appropriate to forecast the spatial distribution of permafrost. First results show that this approach - that was not considered useful so far - provides a significant approximation for determining the lower limit of discontinuous permafrost areas