Ice and Climate

Glaciological and climate research in the Alps, the Polar Regions, the Himalayas and the Tropics has a long tradition at our institute. The annual mass balance series of Hintereisferner and Kesselwandferner in the Ötztal Alps which were established by our institute extend back to 1952 and therefore are among the longest full glacier mass balance records in the world. In recent decades, glaciers gained increasing public interest as their rapid changes around the world are a prominent feature of the ongoing global climate change. Modern research at the ACINN aims to improve our understanding of the linkages between changing glaciers and the underlying forcings. These may be atmospheric processes influenced by a changing climate but also glacier dynamics or geomorphological features such as debris cover. Our group uniquely combines the expertise of accurately monitoring glaciological and meteorological processes, as well as the competence of putting the measurements into a greater context by developing and using state of the art atmospheric and glaciological numerical models.