Abstract
In a context of cryosphere degradation caused by climate warming, rock temperature is one of the main driving factors of rockfalls that occur on high-elevation mountain slopes. In order to improve the knowledge of this critical relationship, it is necessary to increase measurement capability of rock temperature and its variability in different lithological and slope/aspect conditions, and also to increase local scale studies, increasing the quality and the comparability of the data. This paper shows an example of metrological characterization of sensors used for rock temperature measurement in mountain regions, by means of the measurement uncertainty. Under such approach, data and results from temperature measurements carried out in the Bessanese high-elevation experimental site (Western European Alps) are illustrated. The procedures for the calibration and field characterization of sensors allow to measure temperature in different locations, depths and lithotypes, within 0.10 °C of overall uncertainty. This work has highlighted that metrological traceability is fundamental to asses data quality and establish comparability among different measurements; that there are strong differences between air temperature and near-surface rock temperature; and that there are significant differences of rock temperature acquired in different aspect conditions. Finally, solar radiation, slope/aspect conditions and lithotype, seem to be the main driving factors of rock temperature.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank: Ing. Renato Riva (PANOMAX Italia) for his expertise and his availability in setting up the visual monitoring of the study area; Ing. Secondo Barbero (ARPA Piemonte) for providing climatic and sensor data; Guido Rocci (Municipality of Balme) for the support given to the project and for the hospitality offered at the Les Montagnards hut; Roberto Chiosso and his staff for the support given to the project and for the hospitality offered at the Bartolomeo Gastaldi hut. This work was carried out in the framework of the RiST2 Project, co-financed by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Torino.
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Nigrelli, G., Chiarle, M., Merlone, A. et al. Rock temperature variability in high-altitude rockfall-prone areas. J. Mt. Sci. 19, 798–811 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-021-7073-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-021-7073-z