📋 Tender Overview
The editorial board of the magazine Gradbenik also decided to describe the renovation of the weather and climate observation facilities at Kredarica.Gradbenik, June 2025, Renovation of the climate observatory on Kredarica (pdf, 455 KB) During the renovation of the meteorological facilities on Kredarica, we began to consistently use the name observatory. The measuring station is connected to the measuring equipment, and the observatory to the human crew - since the latter is intended for observing the weather and not just measuring. The constant presence of meteorological observers is important. Although most meteorological data today is indeed obtained through automatic measurements, in an extreme mountain environment we still need the constant presence of meteorological observers. The team takes care of the measuring systems and meteorological instruments, cleans them if necessary, fixes malfunctions, and ensures those observations of meteorological phenomena that cannot be detected by automatic sensors, such as the properties of the snow cover, which helps to estimate the amount of water reserves in the snow. This reserve affects the amount of water in our rivers in spring and early summer. The observatory has special equipment with which we monitor not only the weather (air temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind speed and direction, precipitation, solar radiation), but also other phenomena and conditions: monitoring greenhouse gases and pollutants, collecting data for in-depth analysis of climate change and for international comparability. Meteorological instruments can be damaged by extreme weather. We need on-call personnel to repair the equipment on site, as walking would mean solving the problem for several days, and emergency helicopter transports are not a desirable activity. In addition to meteorology, a meteorologist at Kredarica must also know the laws of electricity and wiring, energy systems, communication connections and have a feel for practical solutions to problems that occur in high mountains. Kredarica is one of four high-altitude observatories with a human crew in the Alps (German Zugspitze, Austrian Sonnblick and Swiss Jungfraujoch). The observatories offer valuable insight into the state of the atmosphere and climate in high mountains and in an environment that is not directly influenced by human activities. Based on data in the mountain world, meteorologists can draw conclusions about conditions in the free atmosphere, where the influence of the earth's surface is very small. Additional measurements of greenhouse gases. When renovating the observatory, we will upgrade the existing measuring instruments with equipment for measuring the content of the two most important greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide and methane. Greenhouse gas measurements must be carried out far from large emission sources, in a well-mixed atmosphere. High-mountain observatories are therefore best suited for such measurements, as they better show possible changes or long-term trends in greenhouse gas content. With these measurements, we will join the international ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System) network, which ensures comparable measurements of greenhouse gas content worldwide. In 1897, the first systematic meteorological measurements on Kredarica began under the auspices of the Slovenian Mountaineering Society, and the last known data from this first period are from 1912. All these years, measurements were carried out only in the summer, when the hut was open. Since August 1954, meteorological measurements on Kredarica have been taking place continuously, also in the winter. The renovated Climate Observatory on Kredarica will allow us to continue collecting more than 70 years of data sets that reflect conditions in the high mountains. This data will allow us to monitor the worsening climate change in this environment. With new data on the content of greenhouse gases, we will be able to monitor the effectiveness of our measures to reduce their emissions and, if necessary, improve these measures. The Climate Observatory is intended for long-term monitoring of changes in the atmosphere and climate.
