A b o u t P E R M O S
PERMOS has been built up by several research institutes since the early 1990s followed by a 6-year pilot-phase 2000–2006. Since 2007 the networks is offically implemented with a coordination office and secured long-term funding. It is currently developing towards an operational monitoring service with a sustainable and congruent network. The main work load of field work, site maintenance and data preprocessing is carried out by the PERMOS Partners. The monitoring strategy (including key variables, sites, and observation techniques) have been and still are subject to changes and adaptations based on new experiences and findings from both, monitoring and research. In 2007 and 2009 a sound evaluation of all monitoring sites has taken place. The standardization of site instrumentation as well as data homegenization are still ongoing. The PERMOS network 2011 includes 15 temperatures sites (at 10 of these sites geophysical surveys are undertaken), and 12 rock glaciers where kinematics are observed by terrestrial surveys. At 10 sites aerial photographs are taken regularly. Observation data and results are published annually in the bulletin Die Alpen (SAC-CAS) and every second year in the Glaciological Reports (Permafrost) by the Cryospheric Commission (EKK) of the SCNAT.
The PERMOS network is coordinated by the PERMOS Office and supervised by the PERMOS Steering Committee. PERMOS is operated by six university institutes, the PERMOS Partners. They are responsible for data aquisition and processing, site maintenance, and reporting. Monitoring strategies, approval of sites, data processing strategies, and results are discussed within the PERMOS Scientific Committee. The network receives substantial funds from the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, and the Swiss Academy of Sciences (scnat).
PERMOS is a part of the cryosphere monitoring in Switzerland and complements the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network, which was established at the end of the 19th century. The Cryospheric Commission (EKK) of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (scnat) is responsible for their coordination. The Swiss GCOS Office at MeteoSwiss coordinates the climatological observations in Switzerland. Within the international framework of permafrost monitoring, PERMOS is one of the components of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P) that is established within the worldwide climate-monitoring program (GCOS/GTOS) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and others (FAO, UNEP, UNESCO, ICSI).