This paper demonstrates (1) how the kinematics of rock glaciers can be monitored at a regional scale using multi-temporal governmental GIS data, such as digital orthophotos and digital elevation models, and (2) how this geometric information can be exploited in climate change studies. Research was carried out in a 125 km² mountain area in Central Austria characterized by widespread permafrost and active rock glaciers. Our main conclusions are: (1) rock glacier monitoring using governmental GIS data is possible, with certain restrictions in the significance level due to reduced data quality and limited data availability, (2) flow velocities have increased significantly within the observation period, and (3) temporal change of flow velocity is correlated with temperature although mean annual rates computed by averaging velocities over several years mask high inter-annual variations in climatic conditions.
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