Due to the exceptional circumstances triggered by the COVID-19, the journey was called off and substituted for a second year in a row by a cycle of online meetings and webminars instead. Although the activity organised by GuMNet consisted of an excursion in previous years, which is meant to be face-to-face, we did not want to miss the chance of providing the students with the idea that mountain areas are both an essential and a vulnerable part of climate system, which is the reason behind the need of establishing monitoring networks as GuMNet. Hence, in this context, the activity pursued the same targets it did in past years, yet with a change in format. To begin with, the students were provided with an introductory talk into fundamentals of climate change and future scenarios by Fidel González Rouco (GuMNet Coordinator). Afterwards, they could learn some information about mountains from both a scientific and a social point of view through an interview with experts, Blas Valero and Ana Moreno (Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología - IPE). Then, we enjoyed an online excursion to EG010-Herrería station, in which both atmospheric instrumentation and subsoil measures were described by our GuMNet technician, Cristina Vegas, our former GuMNet technician and now PhD Student, Félix García, and the Ciemat researcher, Rosa Inclán. Finally, the students were shown some of the applications and research lines in which GuMNet data are used, such as the study of temperature variability (Cristina Vegas, UCM) and mountain breezes over the area (Carlos Yagüe, UCM), edaphology (Thomas Schmid, Ciemat), thermal diffusivity of the soil (Félix García, UCM) and soil respiration (Rosa M. Inclán, Ciemat). Both the excursion and the researchers’ talks were recorded in the field, so the students could get to feel as if they were there with us.

From GuMNet, we would like to thank once more the willingness of Patrimonio Nacional, institution handling the Herreria's Forest domain. Without their permission and support, specially provided by Manuel Terrón and María del Mar Herguido, the activity would not have been possible. 

Click on the top picture to access the photo gallery of the EIT Climate-KIC 2021 activity making-of.

Click on the bottom picture to access the video gallery of the EIT Climate-KIC 2021 activity.