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The mountain water towers, measured.

Glaciers and seasonal snow store water that rivers below depend on, and they are changing faster than almost anything else. Stations on and around glaciers measure snow, ice, weather and runoff, so water managers, hazard services and scientists know what the mountains still hold.

Industry

Climate

Measurements

5

Sources cited

5

1. Climate · Glaciers, snow and mountain water

   Water towers, melting

   Glaciers and seasonal snow store the water that rivers below depend on through dry summers, and they are changing faster than almost anything else on Earth. Water managers, hazard services and scientists need to know what the mountains still hold, measured where the ice is, through storms and darkness.

2. What is measured

   Snow, ice, weather and runoff

   Snow stations at several heights up the mountain measure depth and water equivalent. On the glacier, surface height sensors, stakes and weather stations measure melt, GNSS receivers measure flow and lowering, and time-lapse cameras watch the front. River gauges below measure what runs off.

   Instruments

   Snow sensors · Surface height · GNSS · Time-lapse cameras · River gauges

3. The base node

   Melt, computed on the ice

   The node computes snow water equivalent and surface lowering from its sensors, flags rapid changes that may signal a hazard, reduces images to what matters and sends compact reports when power or link is short, keeping everything for the summer visit.

4. Radio and links

   Satellite from the summits

   High mountain stations are beyond terrestrial networks. Broadband satellite carries data and images, and a narrowband direct-to-device path keeps essential values flowing when snow buries the broadband antenna or power runs low through a long storm. Everything else waits for the summer visit.

   Links

   Broadband satellite · Narrowband satellite

5. How it works

   From melting snow to a water allocation

   In late spring the snow stations show the snowpack melting weeks early on the middle slopes. The node reports falling water equivalent each day, runoff peaks early, and the water agency adjusts its summer allocation before the reservoirs fall, with the evidence on record.

6. From order to operation · Order

   Scope the water and the hazards

   The scope reads the basins, the water users downstream, glacier and snow hazards, existing stations and the access seasons. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the station plan from valley to summit, power and satellite design, and a price per station and per year.

   Plan a deployment

7. From order to operation · Survey

   Survey in the melt season

   Crews and glaciologists visit candidate sites in the short melt season: stable ground or ice, avalanche paths, snow drifting, the sky view for satellite and the safest access. Findings are recorded with photographs and coordinates. Findings shape the kit for each site before anything is built.

8. From order to operation · Permits

   Protected areas and helicopters

   Most glaciers lie in protected areas; work is approved by park and land authorities, helicopter flights are planned with aviation and wildlife rules, and every approval is kept with the station record. No crew goes to site before its approvals are in place.

9. From order to operation · Build

   Build for ice and storms

   Stations are built to stand on moving ice or rock, tested in a cold chamber and run on their dark-season power. GNSS receivers, snow and surface sensors are calibrated, nodes enrolled with their identities and kits packed for helicopter lifts.

   Open the Station Builder

10. From order to operation · Install

    Install by helicopter

    Crews fly kits to each site, set stations on tripods that ride the ice surface or on rock anchors, drill stakes, mount cameras facing the glacier front and install river gauges below. Every part is photographed and recorded before the weather closes in.

11. From order to operation · Commission

    Commission with the surveys

    Each node proves its identity. Snow and surface readings are compared with manual surveys, GNSS positions with a reference, runoff with discharge measurements, and data are checked as they arrive by satellite. The station enters the network before winter. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover.

12. From order to operation · Operate

    Follow the melt

    Water managers see snow water equivalent and runoff by basin, hazard services see rapid glacier changes and lake levels, and scientists see daily mass balance and flow. Every value keeps its station and calibration. Every alert and action is kept on the record.

13. From order to operation · Maintain

    Reset stations each summer

    Each summer crews reset stations that the ice has carried or tilted, redrill stakes, swap sensors, check power and update software. The annual mass balance survey closes the year, and every change is kept with the station record. Maintenance history stays with each site for its whole life.

    Book field services

14. Data products

    For water, hazards and science

    Water managers and hydropower receive snow water equivalent by basin; scientists and glacier monitoring services receive mass balance and flow; hazard services receive rapid change and lake alerts; hydrologists receive runoff from glacier basins, each tied to station, altitude band and time.

    See the data products

15. Evidence

    Agreed terms, essential variables

    Mass balance follows the internationally agreed glossary and methods, glaciers and snow are reported as essential climate variables, snow is measured to the instrument guide and cryosphere watch, and runoff is gauged to hydrological practice. Every value keeps its calibration and station record.

    Drawn against

    Glossary of Glacier Mass Balance and Related Terms · GCOS-244 · WMO-No. 8 · WMO-No. 1160 · WMO-No. 168

16. What you get

    Hydrometeorological and flood observing networks

    Stream gauges, rain gauges, weather radar and automatic weather stations built to WMO practice, reporting through WIS 2.0 where the agency requires it. Delivered as hardware + software, managed service and build-operate-transfer, for national meteorological and hydrological services, river-basin agencies, utilities.

    Talk to sales

17. Next step

    Plan glaciers, snow and mountain water with us

    Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for glaciers, snow and mountain water. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio

01The place and its hazards

Where it runs, and what can go wrong.

Operating contextGlacier mass balance is measured and reported with internationally agreed terms and methods, glaciers, snow and permafrost are essential climate variables, snow is measured to the WMO instrument guide and the global cryosphere watch, and runoff from glacier basins is gauged to hydrological practice.

Hazards

• Glaciers retreating and thinning faster than records can follow
• Snowpacks that melt earlier, shifting water supply
• Glacier lake outbursts and ice avalanches
• Stations buried, tilted or carried away by moving ice
• Months of darkness and storms with no access

02What must be measured

What, where, how often, and under which rules.

Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.

03The observation stack

From one base unit to a network.

The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.

1. 01

   Base unit

   A station: weather and snow sensors, a surface height sensor, a GNSS receiver and a time-lapse camera on a sensor hub and node.

   Build a station →
2. 02

   Site

   A site: stations on the glacier, in the forefield and on the river below, with solar power and satellite backhaul.

   Plan a site →
3. 03

   Fleet

   A mountain range’s stations run as one network, with one plan for the short summer visits.

   Managed offers →
4. 04

   Network

   Services and scientists share snow, glacier and runoff data through WMO and the glacier monitoring community.

   The open protocol →

• 01Automatic weather station (WMO class)
• 02Water level gauge
• 03GNSS geodetic station
• 04Fixed camera
• 05Sensor and instrument gateway
• 06Micro node (Nano)
• 07LEO flat-panel terminal
• 083GPP NTN terminal
• 09Solar array
• 10Pole

Radio and links

Satellite

High mountain stations are beyond terrestrial networks; broadband satellite carries data and images.

Radio and links

Satellite

A narrowband direct-to-device path keeps essential data flowing when snow buries the broadband antenna.

Edge computeThe node computes snow water equivalent and surface lowering from its sensors, flags rapid changes that may signal a hazard, reduces images to what matters and sends compact reports when power or link is short.

PowerSolar panels mounted steep to shed snow, with batteries for the dark season; stations drop to minimal power through long storms.

04How it works

From the instrument to the product.

One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.

05From order to operation

Every step, from the first call to a running site.

The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.

1. 01 Order

   Scope the water and the hazards

   The scope reads the basins, the water users downstream, glacier and snow hazards, existing stations and the access seasons. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the station plan from valley to summit, power and satellite design, and a price per station and per year. 4

2. 02 Survey

   Survey in the melt season

   Crews and glaciologists visit candidate sites in the short melt season: stable ground or ice, avalanche paths, snow drifting, the sky view for satellite and the safest access. Findings are recorded with photographs and coordinates. Findings shape the kit for each site before anything is built. 1

3. 03 Permits

   Protected areas and helicopters

   Most glaciers lie in protected areas; work is approved by park and land authorities, helicopter flights are planned with aviation and wildlife rules, and every approval is kept with the station record. No crew goes to site before its approvals are in place.

4. 04 Build

   Build for ice and storms

   Stations are built to stand on moving ice or rock, tested in a cold chamber and run on their dark-season power. GNSS receivers, snow and surface sensors are calibrated, nodes enrolled with their identities and kits packed for helicopter lifts.

5. 05 Install

   Install by helicopter

   Crews fly kits to each site, set stations on tripods that ride the ice surface or on rock anchors, drill stakes, mount cameras facing the glacier front and install river gauges below. Every part is photographed and recorded before the weather closes in.

6. 06 Commission

   Commission with the surveys

   Each node proves its identity. Snow and surface readings are compared with manual surveys, GNSS positions with a reference, runoff with discharge measurements, and data are checked as they arrive by satellite. The station enters the network before winter. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover. 35

7. 07 Operate

   Follow the melt

   Water managers see snow water equivalent and runoff by basin, hazard services see rapid glacier changes and lake levels, and scientists see daily mass balance and flow. Every value keeps its station and calibration. Every alert and action is kept on the record. 2

8. 08 Maintain

   Reset stations each summer

   Each summer crews reset stations that the ice has carried or tilted, redrill stakes, swap sensors, check power and update software. The annual mass balance survey closes the year, and every change is kept with the station record. Maintenance history stays with each site for its whole life. 3

06Data products and integration

What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.

Data products

• Snow water equivalent by basinWater managers and hydropower
• Glacier mass balance and flowScientists and glacier monitoring services
• Rapid change and lake alertsHazard services
• Runoff from glacier basinsHydrologists

Integration

• Hydrological servicesSnow and runoff data enter forecasting systems in their formats.
• Glacier monitoringMass balance is reported with the agreed terms and methods.
• Hazard servicesRapid change alerts reach the services that warn valleys below.

Exchanged through WMO WIS 2.0, OGC SensorThings API, RINEX.

07Questions buyers ask

Before you scope it.

Will stations survive on moving ice?

They ride the ice surface and are reset each summer.

How is data sent?

By satellite, with a low-power second path.

Can it warn of glacier lake outbursts?

It flags rapid changes and lake levels for hazard services.

Does it replace manual surveys?

No. Surveys calibrate it and close each year.

08Resources

The sources behind this page.

Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.

1. 1WMO-No. 8: Guide to Instruments and Methods of ObservationWorld Meteorological Organization
2. 2WMO-No. 1160: Manual on the WMO Integrated Global Observing SystemWorld Meteorological Organization
3. 3Glossary of Glacier Mass Balance and Related Terms (IHP-VII Technical Documents in Hydrology No. 86)UNESCO International Hydrological Programme · 2011
4. 4GCOS-244: The 2022 GCOS Implementation PlanGlobal Climate Observing System · 2022
5. 5WMO-No. 168: Guide to Hydrological PracticesWorld Meteorological Organization

09Related

Use cases and solutions.

10Climate: specialized fields

Other fields of this industry.

Bring us the site.

Plan a deployment, configure a station, model it in the Studio or talk to sales. The form names who receives your details.