The monitoring of the peculiar microclimate of Kanin Mountains continues.
Glaciers are natural elements of high environmental value and also impact on the landscape, as they are among the most reliable and accurate indices on the overall climate both locally and on a global scale; their mutations, throughout history, leave indelible traces on the ground and in the last century and a half, a lot of photographs and documents bear witness to the changes that occurred. Nesa has supplied and provide maintenance of one automatic weather station in accordance with WMO (AWS) installed at 2202m downstream of the remains of the Eastern Glacier In Mount Kanin (Julian Alps, on the border between the province of Udine and Slovenia) by the Parco Naturale Prealpi Giulie in collaboration with the “Unione Meteorologica Friuli Venezia Giulia” (UMFVG). The measured parameters (eg temperature, wind speed and direction, snow level) are used by scientists and researcher to determine the climate of the area, characterized by massive accumulations of snow and rainfall in particular in the winters. Season 2012-2013 and last 2013-2014 registered very significant values to the ground, allowing the snow to survive the summer heat in the accumulation zones of nearby glaciers, after many years of lack of residues and the overall reduction of surfaces and thicknesses.
Many publications are available about the monitoring of glaciers and weather; at this link è you can download the number 1, year XII of the scientific journal “Meteorologica”, edited by UMFVG (abstracts available in English). On page 3 it is possible to see a photo of Furio Pieri (Osmer FVG), which shows the installation of the sensors on the lattice, and on page 17 shows the photos produced by Daniele Moro (Snow and avalanches Department in Friuli Venezia Giulia Region) taken in April 2013.
At this link you can download the special number dedicated to “Proceedings of the 13th Annual Conference of UMFVG”, where a particular focus was made on glaciers and history of climatological events (edited thanks to Renato R. Colucci and Marco Virgilio).
Below some pictures of the operations of data recovery from the station between May and June 2014, after a record winter snowfall and with still several feet of snow at the site of the station. Photo by Daniele Moro (Snow and avalanches Department in Friuli Venezia Giulia Region).
