New paper on snowmaking in a warmer climate in the International Journal of Biometeorology
Maria Vorkauf, Erika Hiltbrunner and co-authors published a new study on the future water demands in the ski resort Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis.
Many ski resorts rely on technical snowmaking to compensate lacking natural snow. In this study, Maria Vorkauf, Erika Hiltbrunner and their co-authors assessed the future snow reliability of the ski resort Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis (1444 - 2961 m asl) throughout the 21st century. Their projections are based on the CH2018 climate change scenarios and the model SkiSim 2.0 (with an extra snowmaking module).
While technical snowmaking will still provide a continuous 100-day season throughout the 21st century, the economically important Christmas holidays will be increasingly at risk under the high-emission scenario (RCP8.5) in the late 21st century. The overall high snow reliability of the resort comes at the cost of an increased water demand. The total water consumption of the resort will rise by 79% by the end of the century (scenario RCP8.5), implying that new water sources will have to be exploited. As elsewhere in the Alps, there is a growing need for water management plans at the catchment level that embrace all stakeholders to meet the manifold claims for water in future.
Publication link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-022-02394-z