Mapping starting zone snow depth with a ground-based lidar to assist avalanche control and forecasting

摘要

The distribution of snow depth in avalanche starting zones exerts a strong influence on avalanche potential and character. Extreme depth changes over short distances are common, especially in wind-affected, above-treeline environments. Snow depth also affects the ease of avalanche triggering. Experience shows that avalanche reduction efforts are often more successful when targeting shallow trigger point areas near deeper slabs with explosives or ski cutting. Our paper explores the use of high-resolution (cm scale) snow depth and snow depth change maps from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data to quantify loading patterns for use in both pre-control planning and in post-control assessment.