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The understanding of permafrost distribution in Iceland is still limited and current knowledge is mainly based on small scale observations and regional modelling using temperature data. In the Alps Perennial Snow Patches have been considered to protect permafrost from solar radiation and are used as an indicator for the occurrence of local permafrost. In this study perennial snow fields are detected and classified based on aerial and satellite images. Effects of climatic and topographic factors on the snow field occurrence are investigated aiming to provide insight into the distribution of local permafrost in northern Iceland. Multi-temporal optical satellite images (Landsat-5/-7/-8 and Sentinel-2, 1984–2017) have revealed a time-variable distribution of perennial snow patches as possible permafrost indicators on the Tröllaskagi Peninsula in northern Iceland. Calculated normalized difference snow index in combination with different threshold values at the end of summer season within six selected study areas show that several snow patches are present in a time period of over 30 years. Perennial snow patches in the study areas exhibit strong fluctuations in extent due to different local characteristics, e.g. elevation, aspect or topography (plateau/open slopes vs. valleys/cirques). In three of the six study areas snow patches have a high probability of occurrence and the pattern of the distribution is very similar in each time period. Comparison with climate data from nearby weather stations indicates that perennial snow patches can be used in combination with mean annual air temperatures as indicators for local permafrost distributions.

Das Projekt Our Common Future: eKidZ-teach your parents well knüpft an das Klimabildungsprojekt k.i.d.Z.21 an und erforscht intergenerationelle Lernprozesse und Multiplikationseff ekte von der jüngeren zur älteren Generation. In einem moderat konstruktivistischen Forschungs-und Lernsetting entwickeln Schüler/innen eigene Fragestellungen, wobei Wissenschaftler/innen einen Dialog fördern und als Lernbegleiter/innen im Forschungsprozess zur Seite stehen. Die Forschungs-Bildungs-Kooperation ermöglicht es durch die transdisziplinäre Herangehensweise, Schüler/innen an der Wissensproduktion zu beteiligen und als Multiplikatorinnen und Multiplikatoren von Wissen, Einstellungen und Verhaltensweisen, einen Transformationsprozess der Gesellschaft Richtung Nachhaltigkeit zu beschleunigen.

<p>The mountain cryosphere has been disproportionally affected by climate warming and changing precipitation conditions since the 19<sup>th</sup> century. This has caused intense and multiple reactions in high mountain hydrosphere, lithosphere, reliefsphere, biosphere and pedosphere. Although there is general knowledge on climate-related changes of glaciers, little is known about the high-resoluted temporal and spatial development of glaciers in the last century. These knowledge gaps further implicate limitations by simulating past and future development of the mountain cryosphere difficult, as important calibration and validation data are missing.</p><p>Topographic maps contain important information, as they are among the most reliable area-wide representations of past landscape for the time before airborne data acquisition. Thus, they offer the opportunity to extract former glacier extents and to close the information gap between the LIA extent, reconstructed from moraine extent, and aerial derived glacier information in the recent past.</p><p>However, as maps represent entities of a real world generalized depending e.g. on the intension of mapping, we consider map uncertainties as a crucial aspect for the reconstruction of glaciers from historical data.</p><p>In order to assess the accuracy of glacier area and front position from topographic maps, we reconstruct glacier extents under consideration of a comprehensive systematic examination of the uncertainty with regard to position, time and attribute. For this purpose, we use information of 12 topographic maps with a scale of 1:75,000 or larger from Kaunertal, covering a time span of 139 years (1871 – 2010) and analyse the accuracy of the maps focusing on production-related and transformation-oriented uncertainty.</p><p>The comparison between the glacier changes, derived from the maps and the original data (if available) as well as those measured in situ, shows that topographic maps are a reliable data source for the reconstruction of glacier front variations and provide vital key information when studying long time series.</p>

<p>Glacier forelands are perfect for analysing the development of plant communities from zero onward. According to Matthews (1992), the chronosequence can act as a spatial representation of the temporal sequence. Therefore, it is ideal to analyse changes in landscape and land cover in time slices. Development of plant communities does not only depend on the age of the deposits, but also on topography, microclimate, soil development, and geomorphological processes as well as on biotic interactions. In the long term, permanent plots represent an adequate method to follow the colonisation on differently aged terrain throughout time.</p><p>The main research question of the study is: Do cryospheric changes influence plant community development in time and space? During the first study year we were focused on the following questions: i) How fast does a plant community evolve? ii) How many species do occur on different moraine stages? iii) How do soil parameters correlate with primary succession stages?</p><p>The study site is located in the southern part of the Central European Alps, Martell Valley (South Tyrol, Italy). We established 12 permanent plot clusters of 2 x 5 m on areas deglaciated between 1985 and 2018, two per retreat area. In each square meter of these clusters, species composition, cover, and number of individuals were sampled. On the ground moraines of the glacier stages 1911 and approximately 1850 we recorded species composition and cover on 10 x 10 m plots (four plots in total). In all plot clusters and plots on the old moraines, soil temperature and soil water potential as well as relevant soil parameters were measured.</p><p>We found up to two vascular plant species per square meter on areas ice free for one year and up to 16 vascular plant species per square meter on areas ice free since 1985.</p><p>On the moraines of 1911 were up to 39 vascular plant species per plot with a mean cover of 52.5 %. On the moraines of 1850 we found up to 43 vascular plant species with a mean cover of 40 %.</p><p>In the next step we will analyse the effects of pioneer, early and late successional species on morphodynamic processes and their response to these processes using functional traits.</p><p>Matthews, J.A. (1992): The ecology of recently-deglaciated terrain: a geoecological approach to glacier forelands and primary succession. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.</p>