SensAlpin with PermaSense at the Jungfraujoch

From 2006 to 2020, various measuring devices for observing permafrost were installed in the steep rock faces around the Jungfraujoch. These installations were carried out as part of the PermaSense and X-Sense research projects, in which SensAlpin employees Andi Hasler and Sämi Weber were involved. In June 2020, Jan Beutel from the Institute of Computer Engineering at ETH Zurich and Andi dismantled the measuring equipment. Together they looked back on 15 years of precise measurements under the most difficult conditions and many experiences. The close exchange with research will also accompany SensAlpin into the future and contribute to the continuous further development of our products.

The core of the 2006 installations was a sensor rod with temperature and resistivity measurements at various depths and a sensor node for wireless communication in the measurement network. Some of the sensor rods developed by Andi Hasler provided correct data until they were dismantled and were undamaged despite ice and rockfall. Some of the measurements became unusable for research due to the installation of rockfall nets in the area of the Jungfraujoch research station.

Graph of the measurement data of a sensor rod at the Jungfraujoch - Source: PermaSense