In the alpine cryosphere, thermo-mechanical stresses due to rock temperature fluctuations, induce crack opening or widening, predisposing rock faces to failure. In the last decades, an increase in rockfalls has been documented and has been attributed to air warming and to solar radiation. However, in-situ relationship between solar radiation and rock temperature is still little known, while a comprehensive understanding of heat transfer in rocks and their thermophysical properties are crucial to rockfall risk mitigation. This issue is being investigated in the Bessanese high-elevation experimental site, that is located in the Western Italian Alps. This site is representative of the glacial and periglacial environments of the Alps and is registered in DEIMS-SDR (see https://deims.orgf8718e56fb4d-49a3-92a9-3670e7f10ee9). Solar radiation and rock temperature data collected at three different depths are available here for the scientific community.

Rock temperature, RT (°C), with a measurement uncertainty of 0.03°C in the range from -20 °C to +40 °CMissing data: 724 (expressed as -999)RT1: rock temperature acquired at 10 cm depthRT2: rock temperature acquired at 30 cm depthRT3: rock temperature acquired at 50 cm depth