Item: A successful attempt to introduce the protective dams into snow avalanches simulations by RAMMS in the Khibini Mountains, Russia
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Title: A successful attempt to introduce the protective dams into snow avalanches simulations by RAMMS in the Khibini Mountains, Russia
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop Proceedings 2018, Innsbruck, Austria
Authors:
- Alla Turchaninova [ Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation ]
- Yury Seliverstov [ Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation ]
- Anton Komarov [ Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation ]
- Sergey Sokratov [ Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation ]
- Ekaterina Loginova [ Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation ]
Date: 2018-10-07
Abstract: Snow avalanches are the most pronounced natural hazards in Khibini Mountains (Northwest of Russia, Arctic). In this study the back-calculations of well-documented avalanches in the original avalanche tracks (Mt. Ukspor site) using "historical" DEM and simulations with the present-day DEM with two avalanches protection dams incorporated were performed. In the latter case RAMMS was applied to simulate two artificially triggered powder avalanches that have unexpectedly overshot the two catching dams situated perpendicular to the flow on February 18, 2016. The event resulted in 3 victims. While it is not recommended to apply RAMMS for simulating avalanches over dams lying perpendicular to the flow, in this case the RAMMS reproduced the observed avalanches behavior and runout distance successfully. Moreover, the avalanche risk in the area taking the presence of catching dams into the account was assessed. Full social risk values were calculated separately for three different zones depending on the type of land use and characterized by different density of people as well as the duration a personal stay in an avalanche-prone zone during the day. The results demonstrate the necessity of reconstruction of the present avalanche protection system to prevent the loss of human lives and the damage of infrastructure in future.
Object ID: ISSW2018_P08.15.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s):
Keywords: avalanche protection, numerical modeling, RAMMS, avalanche risk, Arctic.
Page Number(s): 778-782
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