During 15-18 February, part of the West University of Timișoara team organized a field campaign in Retezat Mountains with the purpose of conducting snow layer measurements in the upper sector of Galeșu valley.

The main purpose was to make estimations of the snow volume by comparing between the terrain surface model with and without snow. For this we performed a survey using a DGI Phantom4 drone that allowed acquiring georeferenced aerial images. These data will be used to compute the digital model of the terrain surface by applying the “structure from motion” technique which will further be compared with the digital model obtained during snow-free conditions in previous field campaigns. For georeferencing the digital model we measured 12 ground control points with millimetric precision, by using a differential GPS.

For validation, we manually measured snow layer thickness in 52 points by using a marked snow-probe and recording the locations with the differential GPS. The visual assessment of the snow cover differences highlighted the areas with significant snow accumulation, especially of those fed by snow avalanches. This activity severs to WP2, Tasks 2.3 (Climate analysis) and 2.4 (Complex hazard assessment – permafrost models).

Many thanks to WUT students Otti, Romy and George, who joined the field trip!