Item: The Effect of Changing Slope Angle on Compression Test Results
-
-
Title: The Effect of Changing Slope Angle on Compression Test Results
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop 2014 Proceedings, Banff, Canada
Authors:
- Karl W. Birkeland [ USDA Forest Service Nat'l Avalanche Center, Bozeman, MT, USA ]
- Edward Bair [ Earth Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA ]
- Doug Chabot [ Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, Bozeman, MT, USA ]
Date: 2014-09-29
Abstract: Conducting stability tests in avalanche terrain is inherently dangerous since it exposes the person doing the test to the potential of being caught in an avalanche. Recent work shows that such exposure may be unnecessary since the results of extended column tests (ECTs) and propagation saw tests (PSTs) are largely independent of slope angle, allowing for data collection in safer locations. Conversely, some past work shows that compression tests (CTs) are slope angle dependent. In this paper, we test the effect of slope angle on CTs using similar methods as the recent ECT work. We collected field data on three separate days with persistent weak layers in Montana and California. Our slopes exhibited gradual changes in steepness, allowing us to sample a variety of slope angles with minimal snow structure changes. We also employed a second method to reinforce our results. Utilizing the SnowPilot dataset, we analyzed the difference between propagating ECTs and CTs on the same layer, and compared that difference with slope angle. Our fieldwork shows that the CT test results either did not change or increased slightly with increasing slope angle. Further, initial analyses of a portion of the SnowPilot data demonstrate that the difference between ECTs and CTs is independent of slope angle, suggesting that changing slope angle does not affect CT tests. Our results have significant theoretical implications, but the practical implications are even more important since this work suggests that, in addition to ECTs and PSTs, CTs can be conducted in safer, low-angle terrain.
Object ID: ISSW14_paper_P2.26.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s):
Keywords:
Page Number(s): 789-794
-