Seefeld Cold-Air Pool Experiment (SEECAP)

During the winter of 2019/2020 an intense measurement campaign (SEECAP) run by the Department of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences and Department of Geography took place in Seefeld, Austria. SEECAP focused on studying the cold-air pool formation in the Olympiaregion Seefeld cross-country skiing area located in the basin of Seefeld. Due to its particular topography, cold air frequently collects at the basin floor leading to the build-up of strong temperature inversions. This phenomenon is responsible for particularly low temperatures regularly measured in Seefeld that create favorable conditions for technical snow production and are especially beneficial for sustained snow coverage during the winter season.

 

The experimental set-up consisted of six mobile meteorological stations measuring wind speed, temperature, relative humidity, pressure and net radiation; two full energy balance stations measuring sensible and latent heat fluxes and four-component radiation; and 45 HOBO temperature sensors. During a number of nights, the measurements were supplemented by thermal imagery and smoke bombs.

 

 

The stations were distributed to capture the main characteristics of the cold-air pool, including its depth, strength, and spatial heterogeneity. Additional high-resolution WRF simulations will supplement the observations to address questions regarding cold-air pool formation, maintenance and disruption processes and the role of temperature advection by thermally driven flows in the cold-air pool dynamics throughout the night.

 

UIBK members of the team:

Department of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences: Ivana STIPERSKI, Manuela LEHNER

Department of Geography: Daniel Günter, Michael Warscher, Ulrich Strasser

UIBK students: Alexander Rudolf, Andreas  Rauchöcker

Collaborating partners:

Tourismusverband Seefeld: Elias Walser

Schneezentrum Tirol: Michael Rothleitner

Reinhold Steinacker (Prof Emeritus, University of Vienna)

 

Duration

12.2019 – 03. 2020