The Power Supply


The Sonnblick Observatories‘ vital energy supply is sustained by power cable which was built during the 1980's. This cable starts in Carinthia at the Zirmseeportal and ends at Pendelhütte - the top of Mt. Sonnblick. The cable tray is 2.8 km long and was an Austrian pioneering achievement. This means Mt. Sonnblick is nearly emission-free which allows us to achieve sensitive air chemistry and aerosol measurements as global station in the frame of the Global Atmosphere Watch program of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
In the year 2014, damage of this cable forced the Sonnblick Observatory to run under a state of emergency for 140 days. The more than 30 year old cable will be upgraded in the very near future.