Data-driven automated predictions of the avalanche  danger level for dry-snow conditions in Switzerland

Pérez-Guillén, Cristina; Techel, Frank; Hendrick, Martin; Volpi, Michele; van Herwijnen, Alec; Olevski, Tasko; Obozinski, Guillaume; Pérez-Cruz, Fernando; Schweizer, Jürg

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2031-2022

Articles | Volume 22, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2031-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2031-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 6

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

14 Jun 2022

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 14 Jun 2022

Data-driven automated predictions of the avalanche danger level for dry-snow conditions in Switzerland

Cristina Pérez-Guillén, Frank Techel, Martin Hendrick, Michele Volpi, Alec van Herwijnen, Tasko Olevski, Guillaume Obozinski, Fernando Pérez-Cruz, and Jürg Schweizer

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2031-2022-supplement

Data sets

Weather, snowpack and danger ratings data for automated avalanche danger level predictions C. Pérez-Guillén, F. Techel, M. Hendrick, M. Volpi, A. van Herwijnen, T. Olevski, G. Obozinski, F. Pérez-Cruz, and J. Schweizer https://doi.org/10.16904/envidat.330

Model code and software

Data-driven automated predictions of the avalanche danger level for dry-snow conditions in Switzerland C. Pérez-Guillén https://renkulab.io/gitlab/deapsnow/predictions_avalanche_danger-level_switzerland

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Short summary

A fully data-driven approach to predicting the danger level for dry-snow avalanche conditions in Switzerland was developed. Two classifiers were trained using a large database of meteorological data, snow cover simulations, and danger levels. The models performed well throughout the Swiss Alps, reaching a performance similar to the current experience-based avalanche forecasts. This approach shows the potential to be a valuable supplementary decision support tool for assessing avalanche hazard.