Dr. Christoph Marty

Function

Scientific staff member

Snow and Atmosphere

Winter Sports and Climate

Contact

marty(at)slfto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 81 417 01 68+41 81 417 01 68

WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF
Flüelastrasse 11
7260 Davos Dorf

Site

Davos Da C 1 50

Research Interests

Interaction of climate and weather with the alpine cryosphere (snow, glaciers, permafrost). I'm especially interested in the distribution, variability, changes and trends of the snow cover (Switzerland-Alps-Global). Long-term monitoring strategies, adequate measurement techniques and quality assurance procedures are also an important part of my research.

Professional Activities

Research: Analysis of the past and future changes of snow depth and snow fall in the Alps. Maintenance of the long-term climatological snow measurements in Switzerland.

Consulting: Expert reports on the past and fast future development of the snow pack or the analysis of extreme snow events. Information on climate and weather related data of Switzerland. Expert advice in snow monitoring related questions in the "Expertenkommission für Kryosphärenmessnetze" (EKK)

FURTHER INFORMATION

CV

Professional Experience

Research scientist at WSL Institut for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF Davos (since 2004).

Research scientist at Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss), Zürich (2003).

Postdoctoral fellow at the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA (2000-2002).

Research associate at the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos / World Radiation Center (2000).

Research associate at the Greenland Geological Survey (GGU) (summer 1994).

Academic Education

Ph.D., World Radiation Center and IAC ETH Zurich, Switzerland.

M.A., Geography and Environmental Education, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.

M.S., Climate Sciences, Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Sciences ETH Zurich, Switzerland.

Snow Day Index

The Snowday index shows the annual snow day anomaly between December and March in Switzerland from its long-term mean separated for the northern and southern side of the Alps and 3 altitude zones. A snow day is defined as day with a snow depth larger a given threshold. The threshold was chosen depending on the practical usability for the typical activity in the the corresponding altitude zone:

Lowest zone 201-800 m asl: Building a snowman ≥ 5 cm

Middle zone 801-1300 m asl: Cross country skiing ≥ 30 cm

Highest zone 1301-1800 m asl: Downhill skiing ≥ 50 cm

The annual values in each graph show the deviation of the mean value of 4 to 7 SLF or MeteoSwiss snow measurement stations in this altitude zone from their long-term mean (1961-1990). The absolute value of this long-term mean is given in the upper right corner. The bold black line represents 10 year Gaussian filtered values. More details can be found in the following publication.

Available Master Thesis

Please contact me if you're interested in writing a master thesis at SLF in the context of snow and climate.

Publications WSL

Further scientific publications peer reviewed

Bühler, Y.; Bebi, P.; Christen, M.; Margreth, S.; Stoffel, L.; Stoffel, A.; Marty, C.; Schmucki, G.; Caviezel, A.; Kühne, R.; Wohlwend, S.; Bartelt, P., 2022: Automated avalanche hazard indication mapping on a statewide scale. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 22, 6: 1825-1843. doi: 10.5194/nhess-22-1825-2022

Resch, G.; Koch, R.; Marty, C.; Chimani, B.; Begert, M.; Buchmann, M.; Aschauer, J.; Schöner, W., 2022: A quantile‐based approach to improve homogenization of snow depth time series. International Journal of Climatology, doi: 10.1002/joc.7742

Buchmann, M.; Coll, J.; Aschauer, J.; Begert, M.; Brönnimann, S.; Chimani, B.; Resch, G.; Schöner, W.; Marty, C., 2022: Homogeneity assessment of Swiss snow depth series: comparison of break detection capabilities of (semi-)automatic homogenization methods. Cryosphere, 16, 6: 2147-2161. doi: 10.5194/tc-16-2147-2022

Fischer, A.M.; Strassmann, K.M.; Croci-Maspoli, M.; Hama, A.M.; Knutti, R.; Kotlarski, S.; Schär, C.; Schnadt Poberaj, C.; Ban, N.; Bavay, M.; Beyerle, U.; Bresch, D.N.; Brönnimann, S.; Burlando, P.; Casanueva, A.; Fatichi, S.; Feigenwinter, I.; Fischer, E.M.; Hirschi, M.; ... Zubler, E.M., 2022: Climate scenarios for Switzerland CH2018 - approach and implications. Climate Services, 26: 100288 (16 pp.). doi: 10.1016/j.cliser.2022.100288

Capelli, A.; Koch, F.; Henkel, P.; Lamm, M.; Appel, F.; Marty, C.; Schweizer, J., 2022: GNSS signal-based snow water equivalent determination for different snowpack conditions along a steep elevation gradient. Cryosphere, 16, 2: 505-531. doi: 10.5194/tc-16-505-2022

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Further scientific publications

Schnee und Lawinen in den Schweizer Alpen. Hydrologisches Jahr 2020/21

Der traditionsreiche «Winterbericht» des SLF bietet einerseits einen Überblick über den Winterverlauf und andererseits detaillierte Informationen zu Lawinenunfällen.

WSL Berichte 116

2021

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Schnee und Lawinen in den Schweizer Alpen. Hydrologisches Jahr 2019/20

Der traditionsreiche «Winterbericht» des SLF bietet einerseits einen Überblick über den Winterverlauf und andererseits detaillierte Informationen zu Lawinenunfällen.

WSL Berichte 101

2020

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Marty, C.; Bavay, M.; Farinotti, D.; Huss, M., 2020: Snow. Hydro-CH2018 synthesis report chapters: "future changes in hydrology". Eine Studie im Rahmen des NCCS Themenschwerpunktes "Hydrologische Grundlagen zum Klimawandel" des National Centre for Climate Services. 25 p. doi: 10.16904/slf.2

Steiner, L.; Meindl, M.; Fierz, C.; Marty, C.; Geiger, A., 2019: Monitoring snow water equivalent using low-cost GPS antennas buried underneath a snowpack. In: 2019: 13th European conference on antennas and propagation (EuCAP 2019). EuCAP 2019: 13th European conference on antennas and propagation, Krakow, Poland. (5 pp.).

Météo, manteau neigeux et danger d'avalanche dans les Alpes suisses. L'année hydrologique 2017/18

Comme chaque année, notre rapport de l'hiver décrit la situation nivologique pour l'année hydrologique 2017/18.

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