We intend to determine interactions between snow cover and environment as they are fundamental to an efficient avalanche warning system and to technical avalanche-protection measures. Natural hazards Avalanches, flooding, landslides, mass movements, rockfalls and storms are natural hazards which greatly impact our society. We intend to assess the factors which cause these events, to understand their processes and to illustrate them in models. Moreover we will consider the existing risks and evaluate appropriate measures to be taken. Such analyses will be made with regard to a possibly changing climate as well as the threats posed to the protective functions of the forest.
Environmental monitoring enables temporal and spatial changes in the environment to be recorded.
With the data we can provide important information in time to take appropriate measures. Collected data should serve as basis for prognostic models. Landscape ecology Human activities, in particular, are causing drastic changes in the landscape. We intend to record and analyze the dynamics and determine how much influence the landscape can withstand. Questions regarding the importance of biodiversity as well as the interaction between different landscape elements are central to our research.