ALPINE METEOROLOGY
In the frame of the work AINEVA carries out to promote research of phenomena that characterise the mountain environment in winter, the Association presents to the public “Meteorologia alpina”, a work to introduce readers to the fundamentals and main notions of snow and weather phenomena using a simple style, though keeping the necessary scientific exactness unchanged.
Since when people started to travel in the mountains, atmospheric weather has been affecting their life, economic activity and leisure moments. In the last few years, many of the accidents taking place in the mountains have been caused, directly or indirectly, by danger situations determined by meteorological conditions.
In this work, by underlining how atmospheric weather directly affects snow and snow cover evolution, as well as all outdoor activities either for work or tourism, AINEVA tried to explain the motto “safety in knowledge”, with the hope to be able to convey to all readers not only the instruments for safety assessment, but mainly the deep love for the mountains that is at the base of their work.
SUMMARY
- MOUNTAIN WEATHER
- MAIN METEOROLOGICAL MEASURES
Temperature
Altitude variation and zero temperature
Variation based on aspect, slope and type of terrain
Variation during the day (daily temperature range)
Seasonal variation
Air and snow temperature
Air humidity
Pressure
Variation in space and time
Altitude variation
Altimeter
Wind
Intensity
Wind direction - CYCLONES, ANTICYCLONES AND FRONTS
Dynamic and thermal cyclones and anticyclones; wind
Fronts
Warm front
Cold front
Fronts in summer
Fronts and the Alps - TYPICAL METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA OF THE ALPS
Stability and instability
Storm
Stau and Föhn
Stau
Föhn
Temperature inversion
Ground inversion
Inversion with altitude
Clouds, fog and haze due to inversion
Snowfall limit
Influence of zero temperature and precipitation intensity and duration
Influence of possible temperature inversions
Influence of local valley conformation
Influence of geographic position
