Item: High resolution (spatial and temporal) terrestrial laser scanning in avalanche release areas
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Title: High resolution (spatial and temporal) terrestrial laser scanning in avalanche release areas
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop Proceedings 2018, Innsbruck, Austria
Authors:
- Benjamin Meier [ Wyssen Avalanche Control, Reichenbach, Switzerland ]
- Jeff Deems [ National Snow and Ice Data Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA ]
- Walter Steinkogler [ Wyssen Avalanche Control, Reichenbach, Switzerland ]
Date: 2018-10-07
Abstract: Previous efforts measuring spatial snow height distributions with terrestrial laser scanning have been conducted from a distance and at irregular intervals. We present results from a laser scanner directly mounted on the deployment box of a remote avalanche control system (RACS) in an avalanche release area. This in-situ installation allows retrieval of relative snow height at a large number of points in the avalanche release area. The scanner maps the spatial snow distribution in a ≤40 m radius around the tower, and continuously measures the snow cover evolution at different points with centimeter-scale accuracy. The laser was operated for three months in Winter 2017/18 with one scan every three or six hours. We used the laser scanner setup in two modes: a) forecasting mode, monitoring changes in snow height, and b) avalanche detection mode, during avalanche control operations. Unfortunately, no avalanche was artificially released during the measurement period. Nevertheless, the system allowed to verify these "negative" avalanche control results. Our presentation will also describe other challenges such as signal dilution due to ambient light, range limitations during snowfall events, and angular imprecision in the mechanical pan/tilt mechanism. Finally, we present our work to-date in an operational context and illustrate how a combined 3D laser scanner and remote avalanche control system can lead to increased efficiencies and reduce costs. A setup as such can provide 1) additional information for decision making directly from the release area, e.g. absolute and relative snow height, 2) a measure to control the hazard, i.e. using the remote avalanche control system, and 3) verification of control mission results, i.e. an avalanche was released or not plus information about the fracture height.
Object ID: ISSW2018_P04.11.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s):
Keywords: Laser scanning, spatial and temporal snow depth mapping.
Page Number(s): 388-391
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