Melting Glaciers Are Redrawing Swiss Maps

17th October 2026

Switzerland’s glaciers lost huge amounts of ice in this summer and the changes are increasingly visible on the country’s maps.

Thousands of aerial photographs are currently arriving at the Federal Office of Topography, Swisstopo, in Wabern, near Bern.

The images were captured by swisstopo’s aerial survey service, which this year focused on the Alps in cantons Valais and Vaud.

Every year, the federal government flies over roughly a third of Switzerland to document changes in the landscape.

Among the most striking changes is the retreat of the country’s glaciers.

“It is not just the glacier itself that is changing in size,” said Tobias Providoli, who heads a team of 35 people at swisstopo.

“The entire glacial foreland is changing too: the rocks, the loose material and moraine areas.

“It’s a highly dynamic landscape.”

The aerial photographs provide the basis for Switzerland’s digital national map as well as traditional paper hiking maps.

See here for the full story on Swiss Info.