The project focuses on mountain glaciers and their role in the continental water cycle, as climate indicators and their interaction with the solid Earth.

In addition to many years of intensive research at the Vernagtferner, the „house glacier“ in the Ötztal Alps, investigations are carried out in various glacier regions, e.g. in Norway, the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram and Iceland.

Besides traditional land surveys used in geodesy and glaciology, modern satellite techniques are also applied. Based on the data thus obtained, the interactions of the glaciers with their environment are modelled according to climatic changes.

In parallel, geodetic work on geodynamics and reference systems will be carried out as a basis for a wide range of further investigations in earth sciences.