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SPOT6 Avalanche outlines 24 January 2018
Outlines of 18'737 avalanches mapped from SPOT6 satellite data over the Swiss Alps on 24 January 2018. The outlines have different attributes described in the data example key (ExampleKey_AvalMapping.pdf) The generation of the data is described in: Bühler, Y., E. D. Hafner, B. Zweifel, M. Zesiger, and H. Heisig (2019), Where are the avalanches? Rapid SPOT6 satellite data acquisition to map an extreme avalanche period over the Swiss Alps, The Cryosphere, 13(12), 3225-3238, doi:10.5194/tc-13-3225-2019. Abstract. Accurate and timely information on avalanche occurrence are key for avalanche warning, crisis management and avalanche documentation. Today such information is mainly available at isolated locations provided by observers in the field. The achieved reliability considering accuracy, completeness and reliability of the reported avalanche events is limited. In this study we present the spatial continuous mapping of a large avalanche period in January 2018 covering the majority of the Swiss Alps (12’500 km2). We tested different satellite sensors available for rapid mapping during a first avalanche period. Based on these experiences, we tasked SPOT6/7 data for data acquisition to cover the second, much larger avalanche period. We manually mapped the outlines of 18’737 individual avalanche events, applying image enhancement techniques to analyze regions in cast shadow as well as brightly illuminated ones. The resulting dataset of mapped avalanche outlines, having a unique completeness and reliability, is evaluated to produce maps of avalanche occurrence and avalanche size. We validated the mapping of the avalanche outlines using photographs acquired from helicopters just after the avalanche period. This study demonstrates the applicability of optical, very high spatial resolution satellite data to map an exceptional avalanche period with very high completeness, accuracy and reliability over a large region. The generated avalanche data is of great value to validate avalanche bulletins, complete existing avalanche databases and for research applications by enabling meaningful statistics on important avalanche parameters. Koordinate System: CH1903+ LV95 LN02
Resurveyed vegetation releves of beech forests in the Swiss Jura Mountains
This dataset comprised 254 historical (1937 – 1948) and resurveyed (2019 – 2022) vegetation relevés of beech-dominated forests sites in the Swiss Jura mountains. The data contains species lists as well as site information.
Nuclear microsatellite markers for Trichopria drosophilae, parasitoid wasp on Drosophila suzukii
Nuclear microsatellite markers and genotype data for _Trichopria ddrosophilae_ This data set comprises (i) the characteristics of a set of 21 species-specific nuclear microsatellites for PCR amplification in _Trichopria drosophilae_ (ii) and genotype data for samples collected in southern Switzerland (Canton of Ticino), with few reference samples from Canton of Vaud, southern Germany, and northern Italy (lab-reared population). Markers were developed by Ecogenics GmbH, Balgach (Switzerland), using MiSeq Nano 2x250 v2 format (on a mix of 10 individuals). Multiplex PCR assays for multilocus genotyping were established by Ecological Genetics (WSL Birmensdorf), and population genetic analyses are found in Gugerli et al., Agrarforschung Schweiz 2019.
Meteorological data used to develop and validate the bias-detecting ensemble (BDE)
These data were used to drive and evaluate Jules Investigation Model (JIM) snow simulations. The data provided are the forcing data used for the "deterministic" runs as described in Winstral et al., 2019. The bias-detecting ensemble (Winstral et al., 2019) used observed snow depths (HS) to detect biases in these deterministic simulations related to precipitation and energy inputs to JIM. Simulations that included the BDE evaluations substantially improved JIM simulations.
Modeled Isotopic Composition of Water Vapour Along Air Parcel Trajectories in the Antarctic
Summary This data set contains Python programming code and modeled data discussed in a related research article. We developed a simple isotope model to study the drivers of the particularly depleted vapour isotopic composition measured on the ship of the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition close to the outlet of the Mertz glacier, East Antarctica, in the 6-day period from 27 January 2017 to 1 February 2017. The model considers the stable water isotopologues H2(16O), H2(18O), and HD(16O). It uses data from the ERA5 reanalysis product with a spatial resolution of 0.25° x 0.25° (Hersbach et al., 2018) and 10-day backward trajectories for the location of the ship, published by Thurnherr et al. (2020a). Our data set includes the model code, Python scripts for visualizing the results, and data produced by the model including the results shown in the figures of the related research article. Here, we summarize the most important model characteristics while further details can be found in the readme.txt file and the related research article including its supporting information. Main model characteristics The modeling approach consists of two steps called *Model Sublimation* and *Model Air Parcel*. The former estimates the isotopic compositions of the snow and sublimation flux across the Antarctic Ice Sheet using an Eulerian frame of reference while the latter models the vapour isotopic composition and specific humidity along air parcel trajectories using a Lagrangian frame of reference. The isotope effects of most phase changes are represented by equilibrium fractionation. Only for ocean evaporation, kinetic fractionation is additionally taken into account (original Craig-Gordon formula). For snow sublimation, two assumptions are tested: *Run E* assumes that sublimation is associated with equilibrium fractionation while *Run N* assumes that sublimation occurs without isotopic fractionation. Model Sublimation Model Sublimation uses a simple one-dimensional mass-balance approach in each grid cell, considering snow accumulation due to snowfall and vapour deposition and snow ablation due to sublimation. The snowpack is represented by 100 layers of equal thickness (e.g., 1 cm) and density (350 kg m-3). The isotopic composition of snowfall is parameterized by generalizing a site-specific, empirical relationship between the daily mean air temperature and snowfall isotopic composition. In the case of vapour deposition, Model Sublimation assumes equilibrium fractionation and estimates the isotopic composition of the atmospheric vapour as the average value for two idealized situations: (i) locally sourced vapour which has the same isotopic composition as the sublimation flux; (ii) non-locally sourced vapour in isotopic equilibrium with snowfall. Model Sublimation is run with a time step of 1 h, independently of Model Air Parcel. Model Air Parcel Every hour, an ensemble of trajectories arrives at different heights in the ABL above the ship. For each of these trajectories, we consider an air parcel with a constant volume of 1 x 1 x 1 m3. The air parcels are initialized at the first suitable time when the trajectories are located in the ABL, either over the ice-free ocean in conditions of evaporation or over snow (Antarctic Ice Sheet or sea ice). Subsequently, the masses of the water isotopologues in the air parcels are simulated with a time step of 3 h, considering vapour uptake or removal due to the moisture flux at the snow or liquid ocean surface (only if the parcel is in the ABL) and cloud/precipitation formation (if the saturation specific humidity is reached). Sea ice is taken into account in a very simplified way. We represent the sea ice by grid cells with a sea-ice cover of more than 90% and assume the isotopic composition of the sublimation flux to be identical to that in the nearest grid cell of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The isotopic composition of the sublimation flux is taken from Model Sublimation whereas the isotopic composition of the vapour deposition flux (over snow) and condensation flux (over ice-free ocean) is simulated assuming an isotopic equilibrium with the air parcel. Isotope effects of cloud/precipitation formation are represented using the classic Rayleigh distillation model with equilibrium fractionation, where the cloud water is assumed to precipitate immediately after formation. References Hersbach, H., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Biavati, G., Horanyi, A., Munoz Sabater, J.,... others (2018). *ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1979 to present. Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS)*. doi: 10.24381/cds.bd0915c6 Thurnherr, I., Wernli, H., & Aemisegger, F. (2020a). *10-day backward trajectories from ECMWF analysis data along the ship track of the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition in austral summer 2016/2017*. Zenodo. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.4031705
Open Science Support at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL. The EnviDat Concept
This poster was originally created for the swissuniversities Open Science Action Plan: Kick-Off Forum, and showed to the audience on 17.10.2019. It illustrates how the environmental data portal EnviDat provides the tools for fostering Open Science and Reproducibility of scientific research at WSL. Supporting open science is a highly relevant user requirement for EnviDat and for implementing FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability) principles at dataset level. EnviDat encourages WSL scientists to complement data publication with a complete description of research methods and the inclusion of the open source software, code or scripts used for processing the dataset or for obtaining the published results. By openly publishing open software (e.g. as Jupyter notebooks) alongside research data sets, researchers can contribute to mitigate reproducibility issues. EnviDat also promotes and supports, where possible and practical, the publication of software as Jupyter notebooks. Jupyter notebooks provide a solution for improved documentation and interactive execution of open code in a wide range of programming languages (Python, R, Octave/Matlab, Java or Scala). These programming languages are widely used in environmental research at WSL and well supported by the Jupyter-compatible kernels. We have sucessfully interfaced EnviDat-hosted notebooks with the WSL High-Performance Computing (HPC) Linux Cluster through a JupyterHub/JuypterLab beta installation on the HPC cluster implemented in close collaboration with the WSL IT-Services. For existing software that cannot be easily migrated to Jupyter Notebooks, the Open Science and Reproducibility is assisted by containerisation. We have proven that several Singularity containers can successfully run on WSL's HPC cluster. Finally, the researchers can upload the data/results complemented by code (e.g. as Jupyter Notebooks, or Singularity containers) and any additional documentation in EnviDat. Consequently, they will receive a DOI for the entire dataset, which they can reference in their science paper in order to publish a more reproducible research. _License_: This poster is released by WSL and the EnviDat team to the public domain under a Creative Commons 4.0 CC0 "No Rights Reserved" international license. You can reuse this poster in any way you want, for any purposes and without restrictions.
HYDROpot_integral
A spatial dataset and tool to simultaneously assess hydropower potential and ecological potential of the Swiss river network (Version 2016) Introduction The steadily growing demand for energy and the simultaneous pursuit of decarbonisation are increasing interest in the expansion of renewable energies worldwide. In Switzerland, various funding projects have been launched to promote technologies in the field of renewable energies and their application as quickly as possible. With the introduction of a funding instrument in 2009, the number of projects submitted to produce renewable energies increased rapidly. The applications for small hydropower plants (≤ 10 MW) were correspondingly numerous. However, the assessment of the environmental impact and its comparison with hydropower importance is still not standardized. To provide a basis for decision-making, a methodology was developed to determine the overall hydropower potential of a region. A detailed assessment of each river reach, and the systematic and holistic assessment of small hydropower projects at a regional scale are combined here. The assessment of a river reach is conducted at the river space (i.e., the river and adjacent areas) and at the surrounding landscape level. The HYDROpot_integral methodology was developed as part of Carol Hemund's dissertation (2012) at the University of Bern. It allows the evaluation of river reaches holistically, regarding ecological, social, economic and cultural criteria. As a second part of the overall project, the theoretical hydropower (or hydraulic) potential was calculated for the entire river network, which complemnets the spatial assessment. In particular, it is possible to classify river reaches into those that are more suitable for hydropower production (=”use”) and those that are more suitable for protection. Material and method The HYDROpot_Integral method was developed and tested on the basis of cantonal and national data (Hirschi et al. 2013). The method relies on 73 geodata sets. This holistic assessment is the key element of the entire assessment procedure. Its aim is to quantify the importance of the ecosystem functions in terms of services. The river network (GWN07) is divided into reaches of about 450m and for each reach two study units are defined. The river space (RS) records the ecosystem functions of the water body and the nearby riparian area. The length of the RS is 315 m on average in Switzerland and a maximum of 450 m, whereas the width is based on the FOEN definition (BWG 2001: 18f) and varies between 7-107 m. The surrounding landscape (SLS) is the second survey unit that records the ecosystem functions of the surrounding area over a range of 21 m to 321 m. The SLS is calculated over three times the RS width. The length of the SLS is identical to the length of the RS. The ecosystem functions are divided into three types: regulating (service A), cultural (service B) and provisioning (service C) functions. Accordingly, the assessment of the functions is divided into three parts and three values are assigned to each river reach. The more functions there are and the greater their performance, the higher these values are and the more important the corresponding functions are. Hence, these values quantify the importance of the ecosystem functions and the ecological, cultural and economic ecosystem services of each river reach. The concatenation of ecosystem services results in a value (ABC) that can occur in 125 different versions due to the chosen five-level value scale; i.e. each digit of the three-digit number sequence can be assigned a value between 1 and 5. Each of the 125 combinations, and thus each river reach, has its own characteristics determined by the assessments of the three function types. To record the suitability, the combinations are ranked according to their ecological, cultural and economic ecosystem services. These rules mean that the combination that is most suitable for hydropower production at minimum cost in terms of ecological and cultural ecosystem services and has a high economic potential is ranked first; rank 125 indicates the highest ecological and cultural ecosystem services and the lowest economic services and is therefore most suitable for protection. A river reach that is excluded from hydropower use due to legislation, a so-called priority reach, is given rank 126 from the outset and specially marked. A more detailed description of the methods can be found in Hirschi et al. 2013 [Link]. The dataset presented here presents the latest state of the HYDROpot_integral methodology applied at the national level. Only national data that is easily accessible was used in the preparation of the dataset. The cantonal data, such as renaturation and revitalization, would have to be requested by each canton individually and was excluded here. The nationwide value synthesis was made with R. A list of data sources can be found here [link to text file] A list of all parameters can be downloaded here [link to PDF and text files] Dataset description Data is presented as a single shapefile. It contains the river network and all assessment results obtained with HYDROpot_Integral. Changes in the methodology compared to the original method (Hirschi et. al 2013) * RS_A11 Ecomorphology: recorded for the whole of Switzerland and zero values equated with NA; individual cantons such as Zug and St. Gallen have no mapped values according to the modular concept of the federal government, Valais and Graubünden only the main valleys, Ticino and Fribourg not completely (BAFU 2009). * RS_A14 Renaturation and revitalization data: not centrally available at the time of data collection. centrally available, therefore values in GR were equated with NA. * RS_A15 Dilution ratio at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for discharges: Zero values equal to NA. * RS_A20 Water flow: use WASTA (2013) with hydroelectric power plants (> 300 kW) under Federal control and dams serving hydroelectricity (Dam, as of 2013). * RS_C05 Synoptic hazard maps: are cantonally managed at the time of data collection, Values in GR are marked with a 5 so that the systematics in the decision tree is not affected. is affected. * Water quality (RS_A15, RS_A16, RS_A17, RS_A18, RS_A19): for the evaluation of the function type. A Nature, it is important whether the median of the five values is less than or equal to 3 in total. This evaluation is based on the decision tree for evaluating GR (Hirschi et al. 2013:22). Therefore, an evaluation of the station data is made where critical and possible river segments with poor quality (median less than 3) exist. Only two longer and one short sections in Switzerland receive a lower median than 3 for water quality. * SLS_B06 Visibility: For 99 percent of the river segments (30,733 of 31,062) in the canton of Bern (2015 reduced version), the landscape area is considered to be visible. Due to this high number of sections, a large number of viewpoints in the layer of Swisstopo and the computation time and computability in ArcGIS, the landscape area is classified as generally viewable (equal to 1). 16 Method Additional indicators were added (see Appendix B.2): * SLS_A21 Dissection * SLS_A22 Forest areas * SLS_B03 Hiking trails * SLS_B10 Residential and vacation homes * SLS_B11 Tourist infrastructure * SLS_C01 Landfill * SLS_C03 Infrastructure * SLS_C05 Industry * SLS_C06 Agricultural land Not to be added, although present to some extent: * SLS_B06 Cultural assets of national importance: here, too, the calculability of the visibility analysis is for the whole of Switzerland is limited * SLS_A15 Legally binding protection and land use planning: the individual river sections are not clearly designated, i.e. no geodata exist The following data are also not supplemented, as they are cantonal data: * SLS_A10 Cantonal nature reserves * SLS_A16 Forest reserves * SLS_A17 Cantonal inventories and contractually protected areas
Grassland-use intensity maps for Switzerland
A rule-based algorithm [(Schwieder et al., 2022)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112795) was used to produce annual maps for 2018–2021 of grassland-management events, i.e. mowing and/or grazing, for Switzerland using Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8 satellite time series. All satellite images were processed with the [FORCE](https://force-eo.readthedocs.io) framework. The resulting maps provide information on the number and timing of grassland-management events at a spatial resolution of 10 m × 10 m for the whole of Switzerland. For the final maps, permanent grasslands were masked using a variety of land-use layers, according to [Huber et al. (2022)](https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.298) but replacing the crop mask with the agricultural-use data from the cantons. We assessed the detection of management events based on independent reference data, which we acquired from daily time series of publicly available webcams that are widely distributed across Switzerland. We further tested the ecological relevance of the generated intensity measures in relation to nationwide biodiversity data (see [Weber et al., 2023](https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.372)). The webcam-based reference data used for verification was subsequently added on 14.02.2024.
Debris flow observation at Illgraben 2024: Event Data 15 June / 21 June
This dataset contains measurements from two debris flows recorded in 2024 at the Illgraben debris-flow observatory in Switzerland. The first debris flow was recorded on 15 June 2024 and the second debris flow was recorden on 21 June 2024. This dataset contains the following reseach data for both: a) Cummulative rainfall measured at CD1 in the catchment. b) Radar-based flow height of debris flows measured at CD28. Abstract In recent years, the destructive impact of debris flows in alpine regions has become increasingly evident. Surge waves within debris flows increase peak discharge and magnify the hazard potential. Hence, understanding the dynamic complexity of debris flows is crucial to mitigate their risk. In order to capture the dynamic processes involved in the formation and interaction of surge waves, it is necessary to obtain distributed observations in the spatiotemporal domain. In this study, we present near-torrent distributed seismic measurements to monitor the Illgraben channel located in the Swiss Alps. With 33 nodal sensors, we detected and tracked surge waves along a 2-kilometer torrent section across the Illgraben fan, which allowed us to gain valuable new insights into the spatial scales relevant for surge wave formation and their long-distance propagation characteristics. We observed erosion-deposition waves that emerged out of the muddy flow tail and propagated with constant velocity along the torrent, reaching meter-scale flow heights within only 100s of meters of flow distance which significantly impact the hazard potential of debris flows. Our results provide valuable observations of surge waves from their formation to their annihilation. We can differentiate flow regimes based on their seismic signature and track them along the torrent, thus mapping the debris-flow evolution in time and space. The observations elucidate large-scale debris flow dynamics thus improving our understanding of hazard potential and the effectiveness of structural countermeasures.
Nationalpark, Switzerland: Long-term forest meteorological data from the Long-term Forest Ecosystem Research Programme (LWF), from 1997 onwards
High quality meteorological data are needed for long-term forest ecosystem research, particularly in the light of global change. The long-term data series published here comprises almost 20 years of measurements for two meteorological stations in Nationalpark in Switzerland where one station is located within a natural coniferous forest stand (NAB) with mountain pine (_Pinus mugo_; 210 yrs) as dominant tree species. A second station is situated in the very vicinity outside of the forest (field station, NAF). The meteorological time series are presented in hourly time resolution of air temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and wind speed. Nationalpark is part of the Long-term Forest Ecosystem Research Programme (LWF) established and maintained by the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL.