Event

This year’s annual workshop of the International Doctoral Program M3OCCA took place at ‘Krone Kinding’ located in the Altmühltal. The doctoral researchers presented the current status of their research projects and gave an outlook on upcoming activities. The M3OCCA-affiliated project ‘Deep-Learning-Informed Glacio-Hydrological Threat’ (DELIGHT), led by Dr. Samual Cook, was officially introduced and the new colleagues presented to all participants. An important point for discussion within the group of doctoral researchers and PIs was the prolongation proposal for the programme. One of the highlights was the guest lecture from Chad Greene (JPL/Caltech, USA) on ‘Remote Sensing of Glaciers and Ice Sheets’. Socializing activities included a hike through the Altmühltal including a stop at the geographical center of Bavaria and a quiz night on the second evening.

Photo copyright: Oskar Herrmann & Akash Patil

As a continuation of the expedition to the Aletsch Glacier in winter 2024, a group of researchers conducted a second expedition in May as part of the M3OCCA program. The group aimed to gather GPR CMP data at three different locations of the accumulation area of the Aletsch Glacier. Snow pits were dug near CMP locations to obtain a density-depth profile at the upper few meters of snow to get the density profile between the visits in March and May 2024. The GPR CMP method provides vital information regarding the Electromagnetic (EM) wave velocity-depth within the firn body of the glacier. The density of the firn body is a function of the EM wave velocity; the obtained density-depth profile aids in the detection and estimation of annual firn layers to study the firn densification rate. This information assists in estimating the mean glacier mass balance by considering the firn density rather than assuming a constant density value for the entire glacier.

This expedition was part of the M3OCCA doctoral program project 2.3 (Improved Glacier volume to mass conversion), and the efforts of Dr. Christoph Mayer and Dr. Astrid Lambrecht from BAdW Munich, Akash Patil (M3OCCA PhD at BAdW Munich), and Manuel Saigger (M3OCCA PhD at the Institute of Geography FAU Erlangen) are much appreciated.

At the end of February, a large field campaign with various measurement instruments from different research groups took place at the Aletsch Glacier. The group consisted of scientists and technicians from FAU Erlangen, different DLR institutes (HR, OS, DFD), Technical University Munich, Bavarian Academy of Sciences, the institute for snow and avalanche research (SLF), Ulm University and ETH Zürich. The campaign involved in-situ density and permittivity measurements, surface- and UAV-based ground penetrating radar (GPR) measurements, airborne acquisitions for tomography and SAR applications, bistatic radar measurements with the KAPRI system, and first tests with an optical localization system. The observed test sites were distributed over the glacier, reaching from the Jungfraufirn to the Mönchsjochplateau and further to the Ewigschneefeld. The surface-based GPR platform (top picture) developed in subproject 1.1 by our PhD student Lena Krabbe was tested in rough environmental conditions for the application of subsurface imaging of glacier stratification.

Within subproject 2.3, GPR was used to collect data illustrating the spatial distribution of the firn body. GPR transects across different parts of the accumulation area of the Aletsch Glacier were obtained by our PhD student Akash Patil, along with direct measurements using glaciological methods like snow pits and firn cores at some locations near the GPR transects. Isotope samples were also taken from the snow pit and firn cores to determine possible annual layers and their corresponding depths. This helps in understanding the regional variability of density distribution and glacier-climate interaction on a regional scale to determine and validate density assumptions that aid in estimating the mean glacier mass balance.

Many thanks to Dr. Thorsten Seehaus and Dr. Alexander Gross from the Institute of Geography FAU Erlangen, Michael Stelzig from LHFT, FAU Erlangen, and M3OCCA PhDs Patricia Schlenk (DLR, Munich) and Felix Pfluger (TUM, Munich) for their assistance during this expedition.

The next fieldwork season is coming! Several M3OCCA members will already join a large field campaign at Aletsch-Glacier in February/March 2024. Thus, a self-organized workshop on basic glacier safety was carried out in Erlangen. After repeating some theoretical background, the focus was set on hands-on exercises. Everyone got the chance to get first knowledge or to re-fresh the knowledge in topics like crevasse rescue, self-rescue, repelling…

Special Thanks to Manuel Saigger, who led the workshop.

The annual workshop of the International Doctoral College M3OCCA took place this year in September at the University Centre in Obergurgel. The doctoral students presented the current status of their research projects and gave an outlook on upcoming activities. In addition to the report colloquium and organisational discussions, there were topic-specific guest lectures by Prof. Dr. Francisco Navarro (UPM, Madrid), Prof. Dr. Helmut Rott (Uni. Innsbruck & ENVEO), and Dr. Wolfgang Gurgiser (Uni. Innsbruck). The workshop was followed by a two-day excursion to the Vernagtferner. Dr Christoph Meyer from the Bavarian Academy of Science explained to the participants the diverse glacier monitoring programme, which has been carried out for more than 50 years.

Members of the M3OCCA project visited the facilities of DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen on the 5th. July 2023.

During the visit, the project partners and M3OCCA members gave an overview of the activities at DLR including a guided tour of the Techlab.

Impressive was in particular the visit of the German Space Operations Centre (GSOC), where different space missions and the Columbus Module of the International Space Station are monitored and controlled.

In March 2023 two of our M³OCCA PhD students, Lena Krabbe from LHFT/ FAU Erlangen and Akash Patil from BAdW Munich, joined a three-week field test campaign taking place at the Jungfraufirn on the Aletsch glacier in Switzerland. Therein, they were able to collect multiple data sets from different Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) systems, namely a commercial GPR system as well as a GPR sled developed by Lena Krabbe at LHFT.  Field campaigns like this are an essential part of glacier and ice research in order to assess the system performance in the field as well as to check, whether the systems and solutions developed in the lab are also capable of enduring extreme environmental conditions that are present on glaciers. Moreover, the collected data is a great basis for a performance comparison not only between the two surface-based GPR systems, but also for comparing them to further measurement equipment tested during this field campaign. The latter includes a melting probe consisting of a radar, a sonar and a permittivity sensor as well as UAV-based radar and lidar systems. During the field test, two main measurement sites were evaluated, including an area close to the Mönchsjoch as well as the camp site below the Sphinx, which is also close to the glacier entrance. Furthermore, also more remote places where evaluated after being explored and assessed together with a mountain guide. Overall, this field test was a great opportunity to gain experience in applied glacier research and intensify the collaboration inside the M³OCCA doctoral program.