PROJECT: The PROSNOW project will develop a demonstrator – an interface that provides weather and climate forecasts and tools for snow management from one week to several months, tailored to the needs of individual ski resorts.
CLIENT: Project funded by the European Union
STAKEHOLDERS: the demonstrator will be primarily aimed at the ski industry, but also at other potential stakeholders, including local and regional tourism authorities, hydropower plant operator and natural danger forecasters and planners.
OBJECTIVE: PROSNOW will apply the latest academic knowledge related to weather and snow forecasting, responding to the needs of ski resorts with the use of cutting-edge tools.
DESCRIPTION: Snow on the ground is a critical resource for mountain region, as it sustain the natural flow of rivers, provides fresh water to the ecosystem and supports winter tourism, particularly ski resorts. The level of activity, employment, profit and turnover within a ski resort in the European Alps, depends primarily on weather conditions – especially natural snowfall – but nowadays increasingly on climatic conditions favorable to artificial snowmaking.
Ski resorts heavily depend on the presence of appropriate conditions for artificial snowmaking (mainly the availabiliy of cold water, as well as sub-zero temperatures with sufficiently low humidity). Though modern slope preparation and maintenance, water management and artificial snowmaking, a typical ski resort can maintain the same season lenght using 30% less snow. The ski industry is increasingly using advanced technology to monitor snow conditions and could greatly benefit from forecasting tools to assist in decision-making process.
Improving forecasting capabilities across all time-scales, ranging from “weather forecasts” (typically up to 5 days) to seasonal “climate forecasts” (up to several months), can bring significant socio-economic benefits to insiders, as well as supporting their adaptation to changing conditions in real time
The added value of such services for ski resorts will be assessed and documented. The project proposes an Alpine-wide system, (involving ski resorts located in France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy). It will promote connection and collaboration among weather and seasonal climate forecast providers, research institutes specializing in snowpack modeling, a relevant group of at least eight representative Alpine ski resorts, technical organizations representing ski resort operators and a group of private providers offering high-tech snow management services.
