Item: FROM SNOW TO SEDIMENT: MAPPING AND QUANTIFYING DIRTY SNOW AVALANCHE DEPOSITS
-
-
Title: FROM SNOW TO SEDIMENT: MAPPING AND QUANTIFYING DIRTY SNOW AVALANCHE DEPOSITS
Proceedings: Proceedings, International Snow Science Workshop, Whistler, BC, Canada, 2026
Authors:
- Magdalena Koschmieder [ Department of Geography, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria ]
- Johanna Mascher [ Department of Geography, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria ]
- Lukas Winiwarter [ Faculty of Engineering Sciences, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria ]
- Arnaud Temme [ Department of Geography, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria ]
Date: 2026-09-28
Abstract: Avalanches have the potential to harm people and livestock as well as damage or destroy infrastructure. Furthermore, avalanches can erode and transport topsoil material and therefore alter soils and landscape on a larger timescale. These so-called dirty snow avalanches evolve from wet-snow full-depth avalanches and mostly appear in spring after rapid warming or rain-on-snow events. While conventional field methods such as snow sampling and mapping of deposits on aerial images have been applied to estimate the amount of material transported by dirty snow avalanches, the specific patterns and amounts of deposition they produce remain poorly quantified. This study aims to bridge this gap by applying uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry in order to create digital elevation models (DEMs) of difference and map areas and volumes of deposition more accurately. Furthermore, surface debris sampling was employed to directly quantify the sediment mass transported by the avalanches as well as the sediment's characteristics. We present the results of three avalanches observed and sampled in 2025 and 2026. This includes comparison of DEMs acquired shortly after the event and after the snow deposited by the avalanche has melted, as well as analyses of the sediment properties. We show that the visual appearance of the avalanche deposits and the sediment mass highly depend on the type and characteristics of the transported material.
Object ID: ISSW2026_P3.12.pdf
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15788/1790099094
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s): Magdalena Koschmieder
Keywords: dirty snow avalanches, UAV photogrammetry, remote sensing, spring avalanches, SfM, wet-snow avalanches
Page Number(s): 585 - 591
-