Design and Implementation of Topographic Surveys for Territorial Monitoring in Mountain Environments
LabMGF team is proud to announce that this year marks the 11th edition of the Summer School in Geomatics.
The Summer School provides students with hands-on experience in topographic land monitoring in mountain environments, a subject often covered only theoretically in regular classes.
The summer school consists of an intensive week spent in the mountains at the Belvedere Glacier. It will focus on surveying the whole glacier using topographic techniques, including UAV photogrammetry and GNSS.
The summer school is integrated into a long-term monitoring project at the Belvedere Glacier. Since 2015, annual in-situ GNSS and UAV photogrammetry surveys have been conducted during previous editions, creating accurate and comprehensive 3D glacier models. These models help determine glacier velocity and volume changes over the past decade.
You can explore the 3D models of the Belvedere Glacier, created from previous editions of the Summer School, here: Belvedere Glacier 3D Models. During the Summer School, you’ll learn how to produce similar 3D models yourself.
This is the 11th edition of the Summer School: previous editions in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 took place at the Belvedere Glacier and in other places in the previous years.
How to participate?
Where?
The Summer School will be held at the Belvedere Glacier, a temperate debris-covered alpine glacier located in the Anzasca Valley (Macugnaga – Italy). We will be based at the Zamboni Zappa Hut, a mountain hut next to the Belvedere Glacier at 2070 m a.s.l.
When?
The Summer School will be held from Wednesday, July 24 to Monday, July 29, 2024.
Participation fee:
Participants are required to pay a fee of 50 € to cover administrative and tutoring expenses. This does not include the accommodation costs in the mountain Hut Zamboni Zappa and the meals (about 50 €/day in total). The accommodation expenses will be paid directly at the Zamboni Zappa Hut (note that cash is required, as there is no internet connection at the hut, so electronic payment does not work). Self-sufficiency in transportation is also required.
Applications
The Summer School is a part of the Passion in Action initiative organized by the Politecnico di Milano. Interested students are invited to register via the Passion in Action application. Participation is open to the entire polytechnic community, with priority given to student applications.
The course requires a minimum of six students and can accommodate a maximum of twelve. Selection will be based on exam grades and an initial interview with all candidates. Upon completion, students will receive a certificate of attendance and will be awarded 3 CFUs, which will be included in the Diploma Supplement attached to the degree.
Enrollment Period: From May 13, 2024, to July 12, 2024, at 12:00 PM.
For any questions or concerns about the course procedures, please contact Prof. Livio Pinto at livio.pinto@polimi.it.
Program
1st day (Wednesday, July 24): Preparation
- Meeting, introductions, and transportation of surveying equipment to Zamboni Zappa Mountain Hut.
2nd to 5th days (Thursday, July 25 – Sunday, July 28): Field Activities
- Planning the topographic survey and drone photogrammetric survey.
- Planning measurements with GNSS equipment.
- Drone photogrammetric survey.
- Measurement operations with GNSS equipment.
- Measurement operations with Laser Scanner equipment.
- Initial data processing.
- Educational seminars on topographic measurements in alpine environments.
6th day (Monday, July 29): Data processing at Politecnico di Milano
- Organization of the collected data.
- Final group presentation of the work.
What do you need to participate?
The Summer School takes place in a mountain environment, at about 2000 m a.s.l.
No specialized gear is required to go to the glacier (no need for crampons, axes, ropes, etc.), but you will need basic mountain equipment to protect yourself from the weather. It can be cold and rainy in the mountains!
Similarly, you don’t need to be a skilled mountaineer to take part in summer school. Basic hiking abilities are sufficient for moving between the glacier and the Zamboni Hut and reaching the surveying sites, which can involve hiking with a backpack with an elevation gain of 300 to 400 meters in a single day.
While movement skills in uneven and rocky mountain terrain (such as scree) are beneficial for reaching certain GPS measurement points within the glacier, these skills are not mandatory for participation, as we will be divided into groups to guarantee accessibility to all the activities.
Basic equipment includes:
- A good pair of mountain boots
- A good shall jacket for protecting from wind and rain (e.g., GORE-TEX shell or similar)
- A good amount of warm clothes
- A liner mummy to sleep in the hut (you can also buy it there, but better to buy it before)
- A headlamp for the evening
Note that the mountain hut is not a hotel but a high-alpine hut. You will sleep in common rooms with the other students, there will be no internet connection and only the basic facilities, but you will spend one week in an amazing place