A researcher prepares to use a laser scanning (lidar) unit to scan snow depth at the Arapahoe Ski Basin Ski area in Keystone, Colorado.

A researcher prepares to use a laser scanning (lidar) unit to scan snow depth at the Arapahoe Ski Basin Ski area in Keystone, Colorado.
Photo Credit: J. Deems, NSIDC/CIRES/CU

New technique helps map avalanche risk

Researchers in Colorado, U.S., have developed a new technique to help deal with the dangers of avalanches. Safety teams in mountainous regions use explosives to loosen snow that might otherwise accumulate and eventually slide down with deadly effect.

Jeffrey Deems says lidar systems can provide precise measurements to help determine how much snow there is on mountain terrain.
Jeffrey Deems says lidar systems can provide precise measurements to help determine how much snow there is on mountain terrain. © Peter Gibbons/NSIDC

‘We take it out of the realm of intuition’

“Conventionally the way they operate is they can observe a snowfall in a safe area—flat terrain—and try to mentally extrapolate how much snow has fallen or accumulated in the upper reaches of the mountain where the avalanches would start,” says Jeffrey Deems, a researcher with the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder.

“This is an inexact science and it uses a lot of intuition and experience. What we’re able to do is take it out of the realm of intuition and provide a highly quantitative and precise map of where the snow is, which can then be used decision-making and avalanche control.”

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Researchers use this laser-scanning (lidar) instrument to map snow depth at very high resolution.
Researchers use this laser-scanning (lidar) instrument to map snow depth at very high resolution. © J. Deems, NSIDC/CIRES/CU

Laser scans provide precise elevation maps

Deems and his colleagues use laser-scanning or lidar systems to map the slopes in summer when there is no snow, and then map them months later with snow. “That means we can provide a map of where the snow exists on the landscape to the folks doing the avalanche control, whether it’s the department of transportation or the ski area snow-safety team.”

Avalanche experts in Canada and Europe have expressed interest in the technique.

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