Item: Thermal Energy in Snow Avalanches
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Title: Thermal Energy in Snow Avalanches
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop Grenoble – Chamonix Mont-Blanc - October 07-11, 2013
Authors:
- Walter Steinkogler [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ] [ CRYOS, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland ]
- Betty Sovilla [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]
- Tobias Jonas [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]
- Michael Lehning [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ] [ CRYOS, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland ]
Date: 2013-10-07
Abstract: Avalanches can exhibit many different flow regimes from powder clouds to slush flows. Flow regimes are largely controlled by the properties of the snow released and entrained along the path. Recent investigations showed the temperature of the moving snow to be one of the most important factors controlling the mobility of the flow. The temperature of an avalanche is determined by the temperature of the released and entrained snow but also increases by frictional and collisional processes with time. The aim of this study is to investigate the thermal balance of an avalanche. Infrared thermography technology was used to assess the surface temperature before, during and just after the avalanche with a high spatial resolution. Manually measured snow temperature profiles along the avalanche track and in the deposition area allowed quantifying the temperature of the eroded snow layers. This data set allows to calculate the thermal balance, from release to deposition, of an avalanche and to discuss the magnitudes of different sources of thermal energy in snow avalanches.
Object ID: ISSW13_paper_O1-19.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s): Unknown
Keywords: snow avalanche, thermal energy, snow entrainment, infrared radiation thermography
Page Number(s): 583-586
Subjects: snow avalanches thermography snow temperature
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