Enhancing geomorphological mapping with multi-source data in a changing climate: Insights from a high-elevation experimental basin in the Italian Alps

In high-altitude environments, geomorphological mapping is a fundamental tool for various purposes, such as natural hazard and resource assessment and tourism development. The rapid environmental changes driven by climate warming, on the one hand, and the growing availability of new data and technologies, on the other, call for a new approach to geomorphological mapping in these areas, able to provide not only a snapshot of the current landscape, but also ongoing trends. Responding to this need, the present work aims to illustrate—through a case study in a long-term experimental basin of the Italian Alps—the potential of integrating traditional geomorphological cartography with multi-source datasets. These datasets encompassed air and ground temperatures, reconstructions of past glacier evolution and the history of natural instabilities within the study area, as well as monitoring of topographic surface changes. This study shows that geomorphological mapping in rapidly changing high-altitude areas can serve both as an initial framework for identifying geomorphological features to be investigated through ground-based analysis and monitoring, and, when combined with multi-source data, as a comprehensive tool for understanding current trends and anticipating future scenarios.