2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
An avalanche from the slope of Mont Blanc du Takul
Researchers in Germany and Switzerland have found an easy way to continuously monitor snow slopes to prevent avalanches. Article published in Geophysical Research Letters.
A group of researchers from Switzerland and Germany have developed a method that allows you to measure the required moisture and snow thickness of snow on mountain slopes without interacting with the snow cover itself. It is these parameters that affect the likelihood of an avalanche.
In the warm season, scientists simply buried a device on the slope, which is a small radar and a GPS receiver. The thickness of the snow cover was measured by radar from the speed of wave reflection from the upper surface of the snow layer, and the moisture content of the snow was estimated based on the interference of the satellite signal.
Schematic representation of the measurement of the thickness of the snow cover with a radar
Monitoring the moisture level of snow and the thickness of the cover on mountain slopes is very important to determine the likelihood of avalanches and debris flows. However, the measurement of these parameters is associated with a number of technical difficulties. Equipment located on the slopes can be destroyed by the melted mass of snow, and manual measurements of the layer thickness can provoke an avalanche. Distance measurements do not provide the required accuracy.
