Start einer Drohnenbefliegung, Juli 2019. Photo/Video: Manuel Stark
Join a SEHAG team from Eichstätt on their way through the Kaunertal. The target was a lateral moraine, from which a UAV flight was started. The images are used to create orthophotos (for mapping the river channels, for example) and digital elevation models (for measuring changes since the last survey). Manuel Stark and Livia Piermattei carried out the UAV survey together. They produced this video for us:
From 1-3 July 2019, a meeting of all SEHAG working groups took place in Kaunertal. Together, test plots were determined on site, where different groups will explore the interactions of various processes. Measuring equipment such as discharge gauges and a weather station were also installed, which are of great importance for the work during the project period. The evenings were used to get to know the project participants and to coordinate the upcoming field season.
Every year in spring, the lake level of the Kaunertal reservoir is lowered to provide space for the meltwater. This allows a view of the bottom of the lake, especially where the Fagge river enters; this is where the river’s sediment load is deposited, which it transports from the glaciers, slopes and tributary streams of the catchment area. The emerging delta was surveyed again in June 2019 – in continuation of existing data series – with the help of a laser scanner, which can measure a very large number of points in a short time. Compared to previous surveys and especially to the topography before the dam was built, the sediment volume that has been delivered from the catchment since then can be quantified.
Avalanches are a common phenomenon in high alpine areas; apart from the threat to people and infrastructure, they have an impact on the water balance, vegetation and sediment transport. Within the framework of SEHAG, snow deposits from avalanches are measured in order to map their range and deposition area and to determine possible sediment transport. In Kaunertal, data series from earlier projects have now been continued: a group from KU Eichstätt used an aerial drone to photograph avalanche deposits. The processed photos are used to create so-called orthophotos, which can be used to survey the deposits.
