Alpine Permafrost Index Map (APIM)

Please download the new KMZ file for Google Earth below if yours predates November 7, 2018. This is necessary due to a server change. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Summary

The Alpine Permafrost Index Map (APIM) is publicly available and shows an index of the estimated likelihood of permafrost occurrence for the entire Alps. The legend and the interpretation key provide further information and allow the map user to refine the interpretation of the color code shown on the map using more detailed information of the terrain considered.

The map is intended for practitioners such as public outhorities or individuals involved in the construction and maintenance of infrastructure in mountain areas.

The APIM has been modelled and designed at the University of Zurich in collaboration with the University of Waterloo, Canada and within the scope of the Alpine Space Interreg Project Permafrost longterm monitoring network (PermaNET).

Data Availability

Acknowledgements

This map has been made possible through the PermaNET inventory of permafrost evidence that has been initiated to collect a pan-Alpine coherent database. This effort was largely the work of M. Philips and team at the WSL/SLF Davos, Switzerland and E. Cremonese and team at the RAVA, Italy. The content of this inventory is based on years of previous work by many scientists and has been inserted into the system in a great collaborative effort. For this, we thank:

Furthermore we acknowledge W. Schöner and F. Paul for providing Alpine-wide temperature data and glacier outline data. We acknowledge the constructive feedback of A. Kellerer-Pirklbauer-Eulenstein, C. Huggel, A. Zischg, I. Gaertner-Roer and P. Schoeneich, which has helped to improve the map legend and interpretation key. Ronald Schmidt has kindly helped to set-up the first generation web mapping and kml server, Jörg Roth has performed the migration to geoserver in 2018.

This map has been generated at the University of Zurich, Switzerland in close collaboration with A. Brenning of the University of Waterloo, Canada. This effort was part of the PhD project of Lorenz Boeckli. This has been in part supported through the commissioning of local high-resolution maps in the framework of the project PermaNET.

Most computation has been performed using the Open Source tools RSAGA, R, and SAGA GIS. The precipitation data were provided by the ALP-IMP project. Landsat scenes were available from GLOVIS.

References for the Generation of the APIM

• Boeckli, L., Brenning, A., Gruber, S. & Noetzli J. (2012): Permafrost distribution in the European Alps: calculation and evaluation of an index map and summary statistics, The Cryosphere, 6, 807–820, doi:10.5194/tc-6-807-2012. [Link]
• Boeckli, L., Brenning, A., Gruber, S. & Noetzli J. (2012): A statistical approach to modelling permafrost distribution in the European Alps or similar mountain ranges, The Cryosphere, 6,125-140. doi:10.5194/tc-6-125-2012. [Link]
• Cremonese, E., S. Gruber, M. Phillips, P. Pogliotti, L. Boeckli, J. Noetzli, C. Suter, X. Bodin, A. Crepaz, A. Kellerer-Pirklbauer, K. Lang, S. Letey, V. Mair, U. Morra di Cella, L. Ravanel, C. Scapozza, R. Seppi, & A. Zischg (2011): Brief Communication: An inventory of permafrost evidence for the European Alps, The Cryosphere, 5, 651-657. doi:10.5194/tc-5-651-2011. [Link]

Other Key References for the APIM

• Azocar, G. F., & Brenning, A. (2010): Hydrological and Geomorphological Significance of Rock Glaciers in the Dry Andes, Chile (27 degrees–33 degrees S). Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 21(1), 42–53.
• Brenning, A. (2008): Statistical geocomputing combining R and SAGA: The example of landslide susceptibility analysis with generalized additive models. In J. Böhner, T. Blaschke & L. Montanarella (Eds.), SAGA - Seconds Out (pp. 23–32). Hamburg, Germany.
• Efthymiadis, D., Jones, P., Briffa, K., Auer, I., Böhm, R., Schöner, W., Frei, C., and Schmidli, J. (2006): Construction of a 10-min-gridded precipitation data set for the Greater Alpine Region for 1800–2003. J. Geophys. Res., 110, D01105, doi:10.1029/2005JD006120, 1425, 1439
• Gubler, S., Fiddes, J., Gruber, S. & Keller, M. (2011): Measuring and analysis of scale dependent variability of ground surface temperatures in alpine terrain. The Cryosphere, 5, 431–443, doi:10.5194/tc-5-431-2011.
• Hasler, A., Gruber, S. & Haeberli, W. (2011): Temperature variability and thermal offset in steep alpine rock and ice faces. The Cryosphere, 5, 977–988, doi:10.5194/tc-5-977-2011.
• Hayakawa, Y., Oguchi, T., and Lin, Z.: Comparison of new and existing global digital elevation models (2008): ASTER G-DEM and SRTM-3. Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L17404, doi:10.1029/2008GL035036, 1425
• Hiebl, J., Auer, I., Böhm, R., Schöner, W., Maugeri, M., Lentini, G., Spinoni, J., Brunetti, M., Nanni, T., Percec Tadic, M., Bihari, Z., Dolinar, M., and Müller-Westermeier, G. (2009): Meteorol. Z., 18, 507–530, doi:10.1127/0941-2948/2009/0403, 2009. 1425, 1439
• Paul, F., Frey, H. and Le Bris, R. (2011): A new glacier inventory for the European Alps from Landsat TM scenes of 2003: Challenges and results. Annals of Glaciology, 52(59), 144–152.

Further Recommended Sources

• Harris, C., Arenson, L.U., Christiansen, H.H., Etzelmüller, B., Frauenfelder, R., Gruber, S., Haeberli,W., Hauck, C., Hölzle, M., Humlum, O., Isaksen, K., Kääb, A., Lehning, M., Lütschg, M.A., Matsuoka, N., Murton, J.B., Nötzli, J., Phillips, M., Ross, N., Seppälä, M., Springman, S.M. & Vonder Mühll, D. (2009): Permafrost and climate in Europe: geomorphological impacts, hazard assessment and geotechnical response. Earth Science Reviews, doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2008.12.002.
• Riseborough, D., Shiklomanov, N., Etzelmüller, B., Gruber, S. & Marchenko, S. (2008): Recent advances in permafrost modeling.Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 19(2), 137–156, doi: 10.1002/ppp.615.
• PERMOS (2010): Permafrost in Switzerland 2006/2007 and 2007/2008. Noetzli, J. and Vonder Muehll, D. (eds.), Glaciological Report (Permafrost) No. 8/9 of the Cryospheric Commission of the Swiss Academy of Sciences, 68 pp. 
• Gruber, S. & Haeberli, W. (2007): Permafrost in steep bedrock slopes and its temperature-related destabilization following climate change. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, F02S18, doi: 10.1029/2006JF000547.
• Gruber, S. & Haeberli, W. (2009): Mountain permafrost. In: Permafrost Soils, edited by: Margesin, R., Biology Series Vol. 16, Springer, 33–44, doi: 10.1007/978-3-540-69371-0_3.
• Noetzli, J. & Gruber, S. (2009): Transient thermal effects in Alpine permafrost. The Cryosphere, 3, 85-99.

Web Links

• Alpine Space Project Permafrost Longterm Monitoring Network: PermaNET  
• Swiss Permafrost Monitoring Network: PERMOS  
• Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost: GTNP  
• National Snow and Ice Data Center: NSIDC 
• Internatonal Permafrost Association: IPA 

Contact

Stephan Gruber (now at Carleton University: homepage)
Glaciology, Geomorphodynamics & Geochronology
Department of Geography
University of Zurich
Winterthurerstr. 190
CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
email: stephan.gruber@carleton.ca

Disclaimer

The data are provided "as is" and University of Zurich makes no representations or warranties, express or implied. By way of example, but without limitation, University of Zurich makes no representations or warranties of merchantibily or fitness for any particular purpose or that the data will meet your requirements or that the use of the data or documentation will not infringe any third party's patents, copyrights, trademarks or other rights. Furthermore, University of Zurich does not warrant or make any representations regarding use of the data in terms of correctness, accuracy, reliability, or otherwise or that defects in the data will be corrected. University of Zurich will not be liable for any consequential, incidental, or special damages, or any other relief, or for any claim by any third party, arising from the use of the data.