High altitude in situ surveys and researches on the snow cover: case studies in Italian and Himalayan mountain ranges

Abstract

Some snow pack profiles, obtained in the high altitude environment of the Alps, Apennines and Himalaya, are presented, also including measured pH values. The in situ surveys regarded namely two issues: 1) the stability of the snow cover, for promoting both the knowledge of the natural risk conditions and the safety of the operators during the development of the activity research, and 2) the pollution within the snow on the field, in order to evaluate the quality of the melting water. The results already obtained during the development of the researches in the Gran Sasso d'Italia and Mount Cho Oyu (Tibetan Himalaya) are compared and discussed with the unpublished ones obtained during field surveys in 2003 at Colle del Lys (Monte Rosa Group) and in the Mount Everest area in spring 2004. The perspective of the creation of a data base containing high altitude snow pack profiles and typical pH distribution is also proposed, in order to improve the knowledge of avalanche safety conditions and of pollutants distribution pattern from large scale atmospheric circulation.