Dr. Samuel Weber

Function

Scientific staff member

Alpine environment and natural hazards

Permafrost

Contact

samuel.weber(at)slfto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 81 417 03 76+41 81 417 03 76

WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF
Flüelastrasse 11
7260 Davos Dorf

Site

Davos Da D 1 08

mountain permafrost | gravity-driven instabilities | micro-seismology | sensors, algorithms & models

About myself

I graduated from University of Zurich (Switzerland) in August 2018. My PhD thesis entitled “Rock slope dynamics in bedrock permafrost: insights across scales” focused on the acquisition and analysis of unique time series (up to 10 years of fracture kinematics data and 3 years of broadband acoustic/micro-seismic data) in steep mountain permafrost, contributed to an improved understanding of frost cracking as well as rock slope movement and constitutes a baseline for future early warning systems. After a postdoc position at ETH Zurich, I obtained a competitive fellowship research post at TU Munich. I then gained practical experience in the private company SensAlpin, where I was responsible for implementing warning and alarm systems for alpine natural hazards. Since autumn 2021, I have been a member of the permafrost research group in the Climate Change, Extremes, and Natural Hazards in Alpine Regions Research Center CERC at SLF in Davos.

My research visions are (1) to contribute towards improving the understanding of processes in mountain permafrost leading to rock slope destabilization or potentially preparing rock slope failure and (2) to monitor critical locations by combining different observations with the goal of designing an early warning system for rock slope instabilities. In this context the role of water will be investigated, using in-situ measurements and numerical modeling.

My research interests concern mountain environments and climate change, especially (1) steep alpine permafrost, (2) cryospheric controls on slope movement and stability in a changing alpine cryosphere and (3) process understanding and quantification of phenomena in mountain permafrost with instrumentation, measurements and models.

The swaying Matterhorn

Ambient motion of the Matterhorn, stimulated by ambient seismic energy from the Earth, was measured with seismic stations installed on the summit and Hörnli ridge of the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn is constantly in motion swaying back forth about once every 2 seconds, trembling at predictable modes of resonance. We used ambient vibration modal analysis and numerical eigenfrequency modeling to identify the fundamental resonance mode of the Matterhorn (0.43 Hz) with a high damping ratio of ~20%.

Matterhorn made audible

September 5, 2019: a day of continuous ambient vibration data recorded from the summit of the Matterhorn - speed up 80 times to become audible - the low tones are the gentle swaying of the peak, high cracks and pops are earthquakes and rock cracking events - select an hour and listen:

Source: Weber, Beutel, Häusler, Geimer, Fäh and Moore (2021). Spectral amplification of ground motion linked to resonance of large-scale mountain landforms. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117295

Impressions of Fieldwork

Publications

Peer-review journals

Phillips, M.; Buchli, C.; Weber, S.; Boaga, J.; Pavoni, M.; Bast, A., 2023: Brief communication: Combining borehole temperature, borehole piezometer and cross-borehole electrical resistivity tomography measurements to investigate seasonal changes in ice-rich mountain permafrost. Cryosphere, 17, 2: 753-760. doi: 10.5194/tc-17-753-2023

Cicoira, A.; Weber, S.; Biri, A.; Buchli, B.; Delaloye, R.; Da Forno, R.; Gärtner-Roer, I.; Gruber, S.; Gsell, T.; Hasler, A.; Lim, R.; Limpach, P.; Mayoraz, R.; Meyer, M.; Noetzli, J.; Phillips, M.; Pointner, E.; Raetzo, H.; Scapozza, C.; ... Beutel, J., 2022: In situ observations of the Swiss periglacial environment using GNSS instruments. Earth System Science Data, 14, 11: 5061-5091. doi: 10.5194/essd-14-5061-2022

Weber, S.; Beutel, J.; Häusler, M.; Geimer, P.R.; Fäh, D.; Moore, J.R., 2022: Spectral amplification of ground motion linked to resonance of large-scale mountain landforms. Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters, 578: 117295 (11 pp.). doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117295

Show all

Mamot, P., Weber, S., Eppinger, S., Krautblatter, M. 2021. A temperature-dependent mechanical model to assess the stability of degrading permafrost rock slopes. Earth Surface Dynamics, 9 (5), pp. 1125-1151. doi: 10.5194/esurf-9-1125-2021.
OPEN ACCESS: All Open Access, Gold, Green

Frimberger, T., Andrade, S.D., Weber, S., Krautblatter, M. 2021. Modelling future lahars controlled by different volcanic eruption scenarios at Cotopaxi (Ecuador) calibrated with the massively destructive 1877 lahar. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 46 (3), pp. 680-700. doi: 10.1002/esp.5056.
OPEN ACCESS: All Open Access, Hybrid Gold, Green

Mamot, P., Weber, S., Lanz, M., Krautblatter, M. 2020. Brief communication: The influence of mica-rich rocks on the shear strength of ice-filled discontinuities. Cryosphere, 14 (6), pp. 1849-1855. doi: 10.5194/tc-14-1849-2020.
OPEN ACCESS: All Open Access, Gold, Green

Weber, S., Beutel, J., Da Forno, R., Geiger, A., Gruber, S., Gsell, T., Hasler, A., Keller, M., Lim, R., Limpach, P., Meyer, M., Talzi, I., Thiele, L., Tschudin, C., Vieli, A., Vonder Mühll, D., Yücel, M. 2019. A decade of detailed observations (2008-2018) in steep bedrock permafrost at the Matterhorn Hörnligrat (Zermatt, CH). Earth System Science Data, 11 (3), pp. 1203-1237. doi: 10.5194/essd-11-1203-2019.
OPEN ACCESS: All Open Access, Gold, Green

Tanski, G., Bergstedt, H., Bevington, A., Bonnaventure, P., Bouchard, F., Coch, C., Dumais, S., Evgrafova, A., Frauenfeld, O.W., Frederick, J., Fritz, M., Frolov, D., Harder, S., Hartmeyer, I., Heslop, J., Högström, E., Johansson, M., Kraev, G., Kuznetsova, E., Lenz, J., Lupachev, A., Magnin, F., Martens, J., Maslakov, A., Morgenstern, A., Nieuwendam, A., Oliva, M., Radosavljevic, B., Ramage, J., Schneider, A., Stanilovskaya, J., Strauss, J., Trochim, E., Vecellio, D.J., Weber, S., Lantuit, H. 2019. The Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN) is getting older: The past, present, and future of our evolving community. Polar Record, 55 (4), pp. 216-219. doi: 10.1017/S0032247418000645.
OPEN ACCESS: All Open Access, Green

Meyer, M., Weber, S., Beutel, J., Thiele, L. 2019. Systematic identification of external influences in multi-year microseismic recordings using convolutional neural networks. Earth Surface Dynamics, 7 (1), pp. 171-190. doi: 10.5194/esurf-7-171-2019.
OPEN ACCESS: All Open Access, Gold, Green

Weber, S., Fäh, D., Beutel, J., Faillettaz, J., Gruber, S., Vieli, A. 2018. Ambient seismic vibrations in steep bedrock permafrost used to infer variations of ice-fill in fractures. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 501, pp. 119-127. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2018.08.042.

Mamot, P., Weber, S., Schröder, T., Krautblatter, M. 2018. A temperature-and stress-controlled failure criterion for ice-filled permafrost rock joints. Cryosphere, 12 (10), pp. 3333-3353. doi: 10.5194/tc-12-3333-2018.
OPEN ACCESS: All Open Access, Gold, Green

Weber, S., Faillettaz, J., Meyer, M., Beutel, J., Vieli, A. 2018. Acoustic and microseismic characterization in steep bedrock permafrost on Matterhorn (CH). Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 123 (6), pp. 1363-1385. doi: 10.1029/2018JF004615.
OPEN ACCESS: All Open Access, Green

Weber, S., Beutel, J., Faillettaz, J., Hasler, A., Krautblatter, M., Vieli, A. 2017. Quantifying irreversible movement in steep, fractured bedrock permafrost on Matterhorn (CH). Cryosphere, 11 (1), pp. 567-583. doi: 10.5194/tc-11-567-2017.
OPEN ACCESS: All Open Access, Gold, Green

Girard, L., Gruber, S., Weber, S., Beutel, J. 2013. Environmental controls of frost cracking revealed through in situ acoustic emission measurements in steep bedrock. Geophysical Research Letters, 40 (9), pp. 1748-1753. doi: 10.1002/grl.50384.
OPEN ACCESS: All Open Access, Green

Girard, L., Beutel, J., Gruber, S., Hunziker, J., Lim, R., Weber, S. 2012. A custom acoustic emission monitoring system for harsh environments: Application to freezing-induced damage in alpine rock walls. Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems, 1 (2), pp. 155-167. doi: 10.5194/gi-1-155-2012.
OPEN ACCESS: All Open Access, Gold, Green

Peer-review conference proceedings

Meyer, M., Farei-Campagna, T., Pasztor, A., Forno, R.D., Gsell, T., Faillettaz, J., Vieli, A., Weber, S., Beutel, J., Thiele, L. 2019. Event-triggered Natural Hazard Monitoring with Convolutional Neural Networks on the Edge. IPSN 2019 - Proceedings of the 2019 Information Processing in Sensor Networks, pp. 73-84. doi: 10.1145/3302506.3310390.
OPEN ACCESS: All Open Access, Green

Weber, S., Gruber, S., Girard, L., Beutel, J. 2012. Design of a measurement assembly to study in-situ rock damage driven by freezing. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Permafrost, 25–29 June 2012, Salekhard, Russia, 437-442. PDF [0.35 MB].

PhD thesis

Weber, S. 2018. Rock slope dynamics in bedrock permafrost: insights across scales. University of Zurich, Faculty of Science. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.2552149.

Book

Philip Deline, Stephan Gruber, Florian Amann, Xavier Bodin, Reynald Delaloye, Jérôme Failletaz, Luzia Fischer, Marten Geertsema, Marco Giardino, Andreas Hasler, Martin Kirkbride, Michael Krautblatter, Florence Magnin, Samuel McColl, Ludovic Ravanel, Philippe Schoeneich, Samuel Weber. 2021. Chapter 15 - Ice loss from glaciers and permafrost and related slope instability in high-mountain regions, Editor(s): Wilfried Haeberli, Colin Whiteman, In Hazards and Disasters Series, Snow and Ice-Related Hazards, Risks, and Disasters (Second Edition), Elsevier, 2021, Pages 501-540, ISBN 9780128171295, doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-817129-5.00015-9.

Oral presentations (selection)

Weber, S. 2019. Cross validation of a multi-modal dataset describing temperature-induced rock slope dynamics. EGU General Assembly 2019, Vienna, Austria.

Weber, S. 2019. Matterhorn: Ein Grenzsymbol von magischer Anziehungskraft. GEGZ-Vortragsreihe, January 9, 2019, Zurich, Switzerland.

Weber, S. 2018. Acoustic and micro-seismic signal of rockfall on Matterhorn. 5th European Converence on Permafrost, June 24-28, 2018, Chamonix, France.

Weber, S. 2016. Fracture dynamics in steep bedrock permafrost. AK Permafrost, Hamburg, Germany.

Weber, S. 2014. Permafrost - ein unsichtbares Phänomen. Naturforschende Gesellschaft Oberwallis, Brig, Switzerland.

Weber, S. 2014. PermaSense L1-GPS for kinematic monitoring. 4th European Conference on Permafrost, June 18-22, 2014, Évora, Portugal.

Weber, S. 2013. Automatic monitoring system. SloMove, SLF Davos, Switzerland.

Weber, S., Girard, L., Gruber, S., Beutel, J. 2012. Rock n' Ice. Understanding frost weathering in-situ. AK Permafrost, Potsdam, Germany.

Poster presentations

Weber, S., Beutel, J., Gruber, S., Hasler, A., Meyer, M., Vieli, A. 2019. Cross validation of a multi-modal dataset describing temperature-induced rock slope dynamics. International Mountain Conference, September 8-12, 2019, Innsbruck, Austria. doi: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000363439 .

Weber, S., Beutel, J., Geiger, A., Gruber, S., Gsell, T., Hasler, A., Limpach, P., Meyer, M., Thiele, L., Vieli, A. 2018. A decade of high-mountain permafrost data at Matterhorn Hörnligrat (Zermatt, CH). 10th AK Permafrost, November 30 - December 2, 2018, Bremerhaven, Germany. doi: 10.3929/ethz-b-000323601 .

Weber, S., Faillettaz, J., Meyer, M., Beutel, J., Vieli, A. 2017. Characteristics of acoustic and micro-seismic signals in steep bedrock permafrost on Matterhorn, Switzerland. 15th Swiss Geoscience Meeting, November 17-18, 2017, Davos, Switzerland. doi: 10.3929/ethz-b-000216540 .

Weber, S., Beutel, J., Faillettaz, J., Hasler, A., Krautblatter, M., Vieli, A. 2016. Reversible and irreversible fracture deformation in steep fractured bedrock permafrost at Matterhorn. 11th International Conference on Permafrost, June 20-24, 2016, Potsdam, Germany. doi: 10.3929/ethz-b-000323612 .

Beutel, J., Weber, S., Gsell, T. 2016. The PermaSense Mountain Lab - Technology and infrastructure for an open permafrost data repository. 11th International Conference on Permafrost, June 20-24, 2016, Potsdam, Germany.

Weber, S., Beutel, J., Faillettaz, J., Gruber, S., Gsell, T., Hasler, A., Vieli, A. 2014. Measurement setup to investigate near surface failures in steep bedrock permafrost. 7th AK Permafrost, Ammersee, Germany. doi: 10.3929/ethz-b-000323768 .

Weber, S., Hasler, A., Beutel, J. 2014. Statistical analysis of cleft dynamics in steep bedrock permafrost. 4th European Conference on Permafrost, June 19-21, 2014, Évora, Portugal. doi: 10.3929/ethz-b-000094135 .

Weber, S., Gruber, S., Girard, L., Beutel, J. 2012. Acoustic emission measurement assembly to investigate rock damage driven by freezing. 10th International Conference on Permafrost, June 25-29, 2012, Salekhard, Russia. doi: 10.3929/ethz-b-000058264 .

Projects

CCAMM II: Cascading Processes

Kleiner Piz Buin: Experimentelle Untersuchung

Das SLF stellte im Juli 2020 eine stark zerklüftete und deformierte, potentielle Felssturzmasse mit einer Anrisskrone nahe dem Gipfels des Kleinen-Piz Buins fest.