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Scientific papers

Scientific papers

Avalanche danger level characteristics from field observations of snow instability

2021 Jürg Schweizer, Christoph Mitterer, Benjamin Reuter, and Frank Techel The Cryosphere, 15, 3293–3315, 2021 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3293-2021   Abstract Avalanche danger levels are described in qualitative terms that mostly are not amenable to measurements or observations. However, estimating and improving forecast consistency and accuracy require descriptors that can be observed or measured. Therefore, we aim to characterize the avalanche danger levels…
16. July 2021
Scientific papers

On the importance of snowpack stability, the frequency distribution of snowpack stability, and avalanche size in assessing the avalanche danger level

2020 Frank Techel, Karsten Müller, and Jürg Schweizer The Cryosphere, 14, 3503–3521, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3503-2020   Abstract Consistency in assigning an avalanche danger level when forecasting or locally assessing avalanche hazard is essential but challenging to achieve, as relevant information is often scarce and must be interpreted in light of uncertainties. Furthermore, the definitions of the danger levels, an ordinal variable,…
22. October 2020
Scientific papers

On snow stability interpretation of extended column test results

2020 Frank Techel, Kurt Winkler, Matthias Walcher, Alec van Herwijnen, and Jürg Schweizer Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 1941–1953, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-1941-2020 Abstract Snow instability tests provide valuable information regarding the stability of the snowpack. Test results are key data used to prepare public avalanche forecasts. However, to include them into operational procedures, a quantitative interpretation scheme is needed. Whereas…
10. July 2020
Scientific papers

On the relation between avalanche occurrence and avalanche danger level

2020 Jürg Schweizer, Christoph Mitterer, Frank Techel, Andreas Stoffel, and Benjamin Reuter The Cryosphere, 14, 737–750, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-737-2020       Abstract In many countries with seasonally snow-covered mountain ranges warnings are issued to alert the public about imminent avalanche danger, mostly employing an ordinal, five-level danger scale. However, as avalanche danger cannot be measured, the characterization of avalanche danger…
2. March 2020
Scientific papers

Describing Snow Instability by Failure Initiation,Crack Propagation, and Slab Tensile Support

2018 Ben Reuter, Jürg Schweizer Geophysical Research Letters, 45, 7019–7027. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078069     Abstract Snow instability is a generic term describing the propensity of a snow slope to avalanche. Inneed of a concise mechanics-based concept we suggest a framework based on failure initiation, crackpropagation, and slab tensile support. Following these three steps we modeled three metrics frommechanical data, which we…
26. July 2018