Weissfluhjoch Research Site

The institute's former main building on the Weissfluhjoch remains at its disposal for research purposes. The test site below the building is the SLF's oldest and equipped with numerous measuring instruments.

Globally unrivalled serial measurements

In autumn 1936, the Expert Commission for Snow and Avalanche Research (now the SLF) in Switzerland built the first snow laboratory on the Weissfluhjoch. Since these early days, SLF employees have been observing the weather and snow conditions on the adjacent test site daily. The site is located on a flat area of the Dorftälli, approximately 150 m below the Weissfluhjoch towards Davos, at an altitude of 2540 m. In view of the good accessibility and the numerous avalanche-prone slopes in the vicinity, researchers have conducted countless major experiments and studies here in the fields of snow mechanics, snow metamorphism, snow characterisation and measuring methodology. They have also tested the prototypes of various instruments, calibrated remote sensing products, and used the data collected at the test site to compare their snowpack models with those of other scholars. The Weissfluhjoch test site is now the only one in the world at this altitude that has a daily record of snow depths and snowfall dating back more than 70 years.

More information: http://www.slf.ch/ueber/standorte/weissfluhjoch/index_EN