---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '20710'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: 'Mountain glaciers offer opportunities to observe boundary layer exchanges
in conditions characterized by predominantly stable stratification, thermally
driven winds, and varying surface roughness. Logistical challenges involved in
instrumenting glacier surfaces mean that in situ observations remain relatively
scarce, limiting the use of this outdoor laboratory. The second Hintereisferner
Experiment (HEFEX II) was carried out on an Austrian Alpine glacier during summer
2023. This collaborative endeavor, involving 12 institutions from Austria, France,
Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, represents an unprecedented set
of observations of glacier microclimate. Instrumentation on the glacier surface
consisted of eight 3-m and two 5-m weather stations equipped with multilevel eddy
covariance systems and auxiliary instrumentation, and eight additional lower-specification
weather stations. These operated successfully for 26 days with minimal data gaps.
During a 3-day intensive observational period, additional instrumentation was
deployed: a short-path ultrasonic anemometer installed very close to the glacier
surface; a high-speed thermal camera capturing high-resolution boundary layer
heat transport at the glacier centerline on a synthetic screen; 3D sampling of
the glacier boundary layer using two meteorological UAVs; and a Streamline XR
Doppler lidar capturing the structure of the above-valley atmosphere. These novel
datasets are valuable for improving understanding of glacier–atmosphere exchange
processes, the role of glaciers in valley circulation, and how both might be affected
by continued climate change and glacier recession. Here, we detail the scientific
goals and implementation of the campaign, describe the general weather conditions,
and present first insights into what the observations reveal about the glacier
boundary layer features observed during the campaign.'
acknowledgement: Long-term funding of monitoring and infrastructure at Hintereisferner
is provided by the Federal State of Tirol (Department of Hydrography and Hydrology)
and the University of Innsbruck. The field participation of A. R. Groos, T. Shaw,
R. Mott-Grünewald, M. Haugeneder, and R. Albers received Transnational Access from
the European Union’s H2020 project INTERACT III, under Grant Agreement 871120. The
research of J. E. Sicart, H. Barral, C. Coulaud, and R. Biron was supported by a
grant from LabEx OSUG@2020 (Investissements d’avenir—ANR10 LABX56). The research
of I. Stiperski and C. Charrondiere received funding from the European Research
Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program
(Grant Agreement 101001691). R. Mott acknowledges funding from the Swiss National
Science Foundation (SNSF) Grant Agreement 200021_219918. Contributions of L. Nicholson,
T. Sauter, and A. Giorgi were funded in whole or in part by a DFG-FWF WEAVE Grant
(DFG Grant Agreement 543257843; FWF Grant-DOI 10.55776/PIN1775223). The Pléiades
images/DEMs used in this study were provided by the Pléiades Glacier Observatory
initiative of the French Space Agency (CNES) and Laboratoire d’Etudes en Géophysique
et Océanographie Spatiales (LEGOS). We thank the residents of Rofen for patiently
putting up with traffic and the noise and dust of helicopter rotations on Sundays
and public holidays.
article_processing_charge: Yes (in subscription journal)
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Lindsey
full_name: Nicholson, Lindsey
last_name: Nicholson
- first_name: Ivana
full_name: Stiperski, Ivana
last_name: Stiperski
- first_name: Giordano
full_name: Nitti, Giordano
last_name: Nitti
- first_name: Rainer
full_name: Prinz, Rainer
last_name: Prinz
- first_name: Alexander
full_name: Georgi, Alexander
last_name: Georgi
- first_name: Alexander R.
full_name: Groos, Alexander R.
last_name: Groos
- first_name: Thomas
full_name: Shaw, Thomas
id: 3caa3f91-1f03-11ee-96ce-e0e553054d6e
last_name: Shaw
orcid: 0000-0001-7640-6152
- first_name: Tobias
full_name: Sauter, Tobias
last_name: Sauter
- first_name: Michael
full_name: Haugeneder, Michael
last_name: Haugeneder
- first_name: Rebecca
full_name: Mott, Rebecca
last_name: Mott
- first_name: Jean Emmanuel
full_name: Sicart, Jean Emmanuel
last_name: Sicart
- first_name: Ben W.
full_name: Brock, Ben W.
last_name: Brock
- first_name: Roland
full_name: Albers, Roland
last_name: Albers
- first_name: Balthazar
full_name: Allegri, Balthazar
last_name: Allegri
- first_name: Hélène
full_name: Barral, Hélène
last_name: Barral
- first_name: Romain
full_name: Biron, Romain
last_name: Biron
- first_name: Claudine
full_name: Charrondiere, Claudine
last_name: Charrondiere
- first_name: Catherine
full_name: Coulaud, Catherine
last_name: Coulaud
- first_name: Alexander
full_name: Fischer, Alexander
last_name: Fischer
- first_name: Dylan
full_name: Reynolds, Dylan
last_name: Reynolds
- first_name: Niklas
full_name: Richter, Niklas
last_name: Richter
- first_name: Marie
full_name: Schroeder, Marie
last_name: Schroeder
- first_name: Phillip
full_name: Vettori, Phillip
last_name: Vettori
- first_name: Annelies
full_name: Voordendag, Annelies
last_name: Voordendag
- first_name: Carlos
full_name: Wydra, Carlos
last_name: Wydra
citation:
ama: 'Nicholson L, Stiperski I, Nitti G, et al. The second Hintereisferner experiment
(HEFEX II): Initial insights into boundary layer structure and surface–atmosphere
exchange processes from intensive observations at a valley glacier. Bulletin
of the American Meteorological Society. 2025;106(10):E2143-E2169. doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0010.1'
apa: 'Nicholson, L., Stiperski, I., Nitti, G., Prinz, R., Georgi, A., Groos, A.
R., … Wydra, C. (2025). The second Hintereisferner experiment (HEFEX II): Initial
insights into boundary layer structure and surface–atmosphere exchange processes
from intensive observations at a valley glacier. Bulletin of the American Meteorological
Society. American Meteorological Society. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0010.1'
chicago: 'Nicholson, Lindsey, Ivana Stiperski, Giordano Nitti, Rainer Prinz, Alexander
Georgi, Alexander R. Groos, Thomas Shaw, et al. “The Second Hintereisferner Experiment
(HEFEX II): Initial Insights into Boundary Layer Structure and Surface–Atmosphere
Exchange Processes from Intensive Observations at a Valley Glacier.” Bulletin
of the American Meteorological Society. American Meteorological Society, 2025.
https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0010.1.'
ieee: 'L. Nicholson et al., “The second Hintereisferner experiment (HEFEX
II): Initial insights into boundary layer structure and surface–atmosphere exchange
processes from intensive observations at a valley glacier,” Bulletin of the
American Meteorological Society, vol. 106, no. 10. American Meteorological
Society, pp. E2143–E2169, 2025.'
ista: 'Nicholson L, Stiperski I, Nitti G, Prinz R, Georgi A, Groos AR, Shaw T, Sauter
T, Haugeneder M, Mott R, Sicart JE, Brock BW, Albers R, Allegri B, Barral H, Biron
R, Charrondiere C, Coulaud C, Fischer A, Reynolds D, Richter N, Schroeder M, Vettori
P, Voordendag A, Wydra C. 2025. The second Hintereisferner experiment (HEFEX II):
Initial insights into boundary layer structure and surface–atmosphere exchange
processes from intensive observations at a valley glacier. Bulletin of the American
Meteorological Society. 106(10), E2143–E2169.'
mla: 'Nicholson, Lindsey, et al. “The Second Hintereisferner Experiment (HEFEX II):
Initial Insights into Boundary Layer Structure and Surface–Atmosphere Exchange
Processes from Intensive Observations at a Valley Glacier.” Bulletin of the
American Meteorological Society, vol. 106, no. 10, American Meteorological
Society, 2025, pp. E2143–69, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0010.1.'
short: L. Nicholson, I. Stiperski, G. Nitti, R. Prinz, A. Georgi, A.R. Groos, T.
Shaw, T. Sauter, M. Haugeneder, R. Mott, J.E. Sicart, B.W. Brock, R. Albers, B.
Allegri, H. Barral, R. Biron, C. Charrondiere, C. Coulaud, A. Fischer, D. Reynolds,
N. Richter, M. Schroeder, P. Vettori, A. Voordendag, C. Wydra, Bulletin of the
American Meteorological Society 106 (2025) E2143–E2169.
date_created: 2025-11-30T23:02:08Z
date_published: 2025-10-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-12-01T15:36:06Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '550'
department:
- _id: FrPe
doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0010.1
external_id:
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- '001608037100001'
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creator: dernst
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date_updated: 2025-12-01T08:08:34Z
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language:
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month: '10'
oa: 1
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page: E2143-E2169
publication: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 1520-0477
issn:
- 0003-0007
publication_status: published
publisher: American Meteorological Society
quality_controlled: '1'
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status: public
title: 'The second Hintereisferner experiment (HEFEX II): Initial insights into boundary
layer structure and surface–atmosphere exchange processes from intensive observations
at a valley glacier'
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image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
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...