Journal
COLD REGIONS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Volume 54, Issue 3, Pages 183-192Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.coldregions.2008.07.006
Keywords
Snow avalanches; Hazard mapping; Geographic Information Systems; Digital terrain model
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Using models to estimate snow avalanche runout distance is useful for areas where there is a lack of historical avalanche observations and no obvious physical signs of avalanche activity. Along roadways, details of avalanche runout are often recorded; however. in Canada, backcountry areas typically used by recreationists may not have a recorded history of avalanche activity or runout distances. Knowledge of predicted runout extents mapped in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has the potential to inform backcountry users on route selection and decision making pertaining to slopes for skiing, snowboarding, ice climbing and snowmobiling. The Rogers Pass area in Glacier National Park, British Columbia, Canada provides an ideal location for studying well documented avalanche paths that impact the Trans Canada Highway, as well as representing a backcountry area that is a popular ski touring destination in Canada. A statistical approach using the alpha-beta runout model, first developed in Norway, has been adapted for use in Rogers Pass. Topographic parameters from well-known avalanche paths along the Trans Canada Highway corridor, with a historical record of over 40 years. have been extracted with GIS and used to calibrate the alpha-beta runout model. This model is then applied to an avalanche path in the Glacier National Park backcountry. A high resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was created for the study area using digital stereo photogrammetry. A comparison of model calculations using the higher resolution dataset and a lower resolution dataset did not reveal any significant difference between the model parameters. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available