From 31 August to 7 September, 19 PhD and Master’s students from 12 countries took part in the PermaCOST training course in Trafoi (Autonomous Province of Bolzano, Italy). Niels Dedring from the Urban Remote Sensing Research Group represented the RUB in this international project. During seven intensive days of field trips, lectures and practical exercises, the participants familiarised themselves with the periglacial context of the area and were trained in the use of various tools for mapping, characterising and monitoring periglacial landforms at local and regional levels.

Led by an international team of 10 trainers and guest lecturers, the course covered a wide range of topics for the comprehensive study of periglacial mountain landscapes. The training focused on the geomorphological interpretation of interlinked processes that create and reshape landforms in glacial and periglacial mountain landscapes, as well as the methods and techniques available for documenting changes in such environments.

The centrepiece of the training was the guidelines for compiling consistent block glacier inventories in accordance with the ‘Rock Glacier Inventories and Kinematics’ (RGIK) guidelines. In addition to optical orthophotos, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from Sentinel-1 satellites was also utilised. Interferometry (InSAR) was used to demonstrate how the kinematics and movements of rock glaciers can be recorded and classified. Furthermore, geophysical methods, with a focus on electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), were used to characterise the subsurface permafrost, whilst high-resolution data from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were acquired and processed for the mapping and monitoring of periglacial landforms in the field.

The training was funded by the PermaCOST project (COST Action CA24157). PermaCOST aims to improve the networking and coordination of permafrost research in Europe, as well as to standardise the monitoring of permafrost responses to climate change.