iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Alongside him, hut warden Toni Riepler (Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte) and the Alpine Club trail crew from Sektion Matrei bring it down to earth on what this means in daily practice. The bottom line: the Alps will keep changing. What matters is how well we #monitor and #adapt.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

A case in point: the Obersulzbachtal valley flank, which GEORESEARCH has tracked for over a decade as permafrost decline and water infiltration set it slowly creeping downslope – right at the heart of our natural-hazard and permafrost monitoring in the Hohe Tauern.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Our colleague Ingo Hartmeyer, Managing Director of #GEORESEARCH, joins as an expert voice – explaining how rock faces newly exposed by retreating glaciers can carry many times the rockfall risk, and how long-term monitoring reveals the early warning signs of slope instability.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

And it's not a future scenario. From the Obersulzbachtal to the Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte, the effects are already here: #huts needing costly stabilisation, water growing scarcer, #trails constantly repaired and rerouted.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The #Alps we hike today are changing faster than most people realise. In the latest episode of #Aufgehorcht! – the #podcast from Nationalpark Hohe Tauern – experts unpack how #glacier retreat and thawing #permafrost are destabilising rock faces across the range.

Podcast "Aufgehorcht" ft. Ingo Hartmeyer, GEORESEARCH.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

🍒 And as a cherry on top, Tobias Büttel is a brilliant photographer, so we came home with some stunning footage from our days out there. 📸 www.tobiasbuettel.de On to the next field campaign – it's shaping up to be a busy summer! ☀️

tobiasbuettel.de

Tobias Buettel

Nature and outdoor photographer based in Germany and Austria. Inspiring people to protect our environment and fight climate change.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

We were lucky to have Thorsten Seehaus (@fau.de) and Tobias Büttel join us in the field – not only did they help lighten our backpacks, they were fantastic company too.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

The results will help the Alpine Club (@alpenverein.bsky.social, Sektion Austria) plan ahead and adapt their trails and routes as these glaciers continue to retreat.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

With this campaign, we've now surveyed the three largest #glaciers in the Dachstein Massif – building on the ice-thickness data we collected at the Hallstätter and Schladminger Glaciers last year.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Last week, we headed to the Gosau side of the mighty #Dachstein with one clear objective: measuring the remaining #ice thickness of the Großer Gosaugletscher ("Great Gosau Glacier") using our UAV-borne #GPR.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Huge thanks to Iris Hansche and Wolfgang Schöner (University of Graz) for editing and steering this report to completion – no small feat with dozens of contributors and two full years of data. 📖 Full report (open access): doi: 10.25364/402.2026.1 #Permafrost #Cryosphere #Climate #Kitzsteinhorn

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Permafrost doesn't grab headlines the way retreating glaciers do – it's invisible and slow, but it's exactly the kind of environment where consistent, decade-spanning measurements pay off. That's what this chapter – and our philosophy – is built on.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

❄️ 30 m down, seasonal swings completely disappear – but the long-term trend is still unmistakably upward.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Two numbers from our corner of the report that stuck with us: 🌡️ At the Kitzsteinhorn, the active layer (the seasonally thawed layer above the permafrost) reached a record 4.4 m in 2024 – and it's been deepening by roughly 0.8 m per decade.

Permafrost borehole maintenance at Kitzsteinhorn, Austria.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Fresh off the press: KryoMon.AT Report Nr. 2 is out. ❄️ The new KryoMon.AT report (2022/23 & 2023/24) pulls together the national picture on glaciers, snow, lake ice – and permafrost, where GEORESEARCH contributed long-term borehole data from our Open-Air-Lab Kitzsteinhorn.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

And thanks to Marie's team at Seethaler Hütte, who kept us well fed and rested after intense days on the ice. 🙏 🤞 Fingers crossed we'll never need these skills for real. Here's to a safe #fieldwork season! 🏔️☀️ #glaciology #alpineresearch #mountainsafety #dronemonitoring #glaciermonitoring

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

The Seethaler Hut was the perfect base. A gorgeous (😉) randkluft crevasse made it ideal for practicing #crevasserescue and other essential techniques. Huge thanks to mountain guide Eva Schider for the excellent training! 🧗

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

We mostly let the drone handle #glacier monitoring and rarely set foot on the ice ourselves – so it was high time to refresh our glacier skills.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Every additional analyst sharpens the result. Pick as you naturally would. Please #share with colleagues who know their way around a radargram! #Glaciology #GPR #Geophysics #Cryosphere #UAV #IceThickness

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

The task runs entirely in your browser: draw the glacier surface and bed on a set of radargrams. No install, no sign-up – about 15-20 minutes of picking that directly supports our work on ice-thickness uncertainty.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

As part of the #MELT-AI project, our PhD researcher @anna7brunner.bsky.social is running a short inter-analyst experiment on UAV-borne GPR data from Alpine glaciers – and we're looking for glaciologists and GPR analysts to take part.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

How consistently do experts pick reflections in ground-penetrating radar? Help us find out! 👉 anna7br.github.io/radargrams/

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Looking forward to seeing you on-site in Vienna next week! ☕ 📼 Video footage from our #UAV-borne GPR campaign at Hallstätter Gletscher last year. The results obtained up there will be part of Anna's PICO presentation.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

CR6.5 | Thu, 07 May, 14:00–15:45 (Hall X5): Torbjörn Kagel et al. on "Advances in interface detection for snowpack analysis with UWB radar" (featuring our STRATIFY #GPR datasets!)

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

GEORESEARCH also contributes to several other sessions – make sure to stop by: NH3.5 | Fri, 08 May, 09:45–09:55 (Room D2): Johannes Leinauer et al. on "Statistical alarm threshold determination for alpine rock fall monitoring" (featuring our Open-Air-Lab #Kitzsteinhorn! )

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

11:11 – Maike Offer talking about: "Laboratory and field validated temperature-resistivity relations in bedrock permafrost" 🔬 🔗 doi.org/10.5194/egus...

doi.org

Abstract EGU26-13345

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

09:09 – @anna7brunner.bsky.social presenting: "Towards a New Regional Ice Thickness Dataset: UAV-borne GPR for Quantifying Remaining Ice Volumes of Alpine Glaciers" 🧊 🔗 doi.org/10.5194/egus...

doi.org

Abstract EGU26-8251

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

This session covers both glacier and permafrost research – so we've got you covered. It features two GEORESEARCH contributions: 📅 Wed, 6 May | 08:30–12:30 | PICO spot 1a

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

GEORESEARCH has many contributions to this year's #EGU. If you are a bit indecisive and have two hearts beating in your chest (e.g., for #permafrost and #glacier research), we have the perfect session recommendation for you: Session CR6.2: "Geophysical and in situ methods in the cryosphere" 🏔️

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

It’s that time of the year again... everyone is posting about their #EGU26 session contributions, and we don't want to miss out! 🌍

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Many thanks to Chiara Crippa from Institute for Earth Observation - Eurac Research and Antonio Bratus from @ogsit.bsky.social for organizing a wonderful stakeholer meeting. #Interreg #interregitaliaosterreich #Permafrost #ClimateAction #EUProjects #AlpineResearch #ScienceAcrossBorders @interreg.eu

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

👉 One thing is clear: Understanding permafrost is no longer a purely scientific task — it is becoming a prerequisite for safe and sustainable infrastructure in mountain regions.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

An especially forward-looking topic was the active preservation of permafrost using cooling systems — as already implemented at Tofana within the “Rescue Permafrost” initiative. Approaches like this may become increasingly relevant at high-alpine infrastructure sites in the future.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Building on this, initial project outcomes were presented, including new permafrost boreholes at Großglockner as well as upgrades to key monitoring infrastructure at Grawand and Kitzsteinhorn.

Consequences of permafrost thaw explained for the special case of Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte at Großglockner.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

The discussions focused on methodological approaches — from in situ monitoring and geophysical surveys to digital modelling — and how these tools can support more informed, forward-looking decisions.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Last week, we attended a comprehensive stakeholder meeting in Cortina d’Ampezzo, bringing together experts and practitioners from tourism, infrastructure, business, and science. Following last year’s meeting in Kaprun, this marks the second major stakeholder exchange within the project.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Permafrost knowledge. Infrastructure resilience. 💡Our Interreg project FROST.INI (2025–2027) has a clear objective: strengthening resilience to the impacts and risks of permafrost degradation in the Austrian–Italian Alps. A key step towards this goal is the close integration of stakeholders.

IH presenting preliminary results from in situ monitoring in alpine permafrost.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

A big shoutout to the field team for carrying out the drilling campaign under demanding weather conditions. 🌬️ #Glaciology #GPR #DroneTechnology #KovacDrill #DataValidation #ClimateResearch #RemoteSensing

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

We will continue this work with additional validation drillings in these challenging zones to better understand the radar response in steep, debris-rich glacier ice.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

At the same time, the field validation also revealed larger deviations in steep marginal zones of the glacier, where debris layers within the ice complicate the radar signal interpretation. These findings highlight important areas for further methodological refinement.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

The outcome is very encouraging: Across most locations, the drone-based GPR measurements show a very strong agreement with the borehole data, with deviations typically within about 10 % of the measured ice thickness.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

To validate these aerial measurements, we recently carried out an extensive ice drilling field campaign using our new Kovacs ice auger. In total, we drilled 15 boreholes with a cumulative depth of more than 100 meters to compare the measured ice thickness with our GPR-derived results.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Validating UAV-based GPR measurements of glacier ice thickness 🎯🧊 Over the past year, we have been mapping glacier ice thickness across Austria using novel UAV-based Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) (by SPH Engineering).

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Beyond the conference talks and posters, we made sure to squeeze in some (Olympic) sightseeing and dive deep into Italy’s culinary treasures. 🍕🍷 We’re already looking forward to seeing everyone at next year's AGM in Munich! 🥨

Anna presenting her research on UAV-borne GPR for ice thickness measurements and permafrost mapping.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

We were proud to have two of our ECRs, Amelie and @anna7brunner.bsky.social, present their latest work: 📊 Large-scale surface changes via a DEM-of-difference approach 🧊 UAV-borne GPR for ice thickness measurements and permafrost mapping

Amelie presenting her research on large-scale surface changes via a DEM-of-difference approach.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

The AGM remains a premier gathering for #cryosphere researchers across the #Alps, fostering a welcoming atmosphere that’s especially valuable for early-career scientists.

Full house on the first day of AGM at University of Milano-Bicocca.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

While we missed the Olympic Winter Games in #Milan by just a bit, we arrived exactly on time for the Alpine Glaciology Meeting (#AGM) - intentionally, of course! 🏔️❄️

The last remainders of the Olympics before AGM took over in Milano.

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GEORESEARCH @georesearch.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

A big thank you to our long-standing partners, especially the Hohe Tauern National Park, for making long-term, high-resolution monitoring in the Obersulzbachtal possible. 🤝🏔️

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