The International Conferences on Alpine Meteorology: Characteristics and trends from a 57-year-series of scientific communication

Abstract

General information is assembled about origin, conduct and written documentation concerning the full series of 29 biennial International Conferences on Alpine Meteorology (ICAM) between 1950 and 2007. The slowly evolving format of interactive scientific communication is apparent since the series was started by Mario Bossolasco, a visionary geophysical scientist. A comparison with the related mountain meteorology conference series organized by the American Meteorological Society helps to put the European achievement in perspective. Such a compact bookkeeping activity is considered essential for valuing properly the considerable impact of a regular, focussed, single-session conference series like ICAM for issues like international cooperation, practical education of students, and scientific advancement in general.