Articles | Volume 23, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2895-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2895-2023
Research article
 | 
30 Aug 2023
Research article |  | 30 Aug 2023

Avalanche size estimation and avalanche outline determination by experts: reliability and implications for practice

Elisabeth D. Hafner, Frank Techel, Rodrigo Caye Daudt, Jan Dirk Wegner, Konrad Schindler, and Yves Bühler

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American Avalanche Association: Snow, Weather and Avalanches: Observation Guidelines for Avalanche Programs in the United States, 4th edn., ISBN 979-8-218-05765-7, 2022. a
Ardizzone, F., Cardinali, M., Carrara, A., Guzzetti, F., and Reichenbach, P.: Impact of mapping errors on the reliability of landslide hazard maps, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 2, 3–14, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2-3-2002, 2002. a
Bianchi, F. M., Grahn, J., Eckerstorfer, M., Malnes, E., and Vickers, H.: Snow Avalanche Segmentation in SAR Images With Fully Convolutional Neural Networks, IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl., 14, 75–82, https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2020.3036914, 2021. a, b
Birkeland, K. and Greene, E.: Accurately Assessing Avalanche Size: The Ins and Outs of the R- and D- scales, The Avalanche Review, 29, 27/32, https://avalanche.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/11_TAR_BirkelandGreene.pdf (last access: 5 January 2023), 2011. a
Bowler, N. E.: Explicitly Accounting for Observation Error in Categorical Verification of Forecasts, Mon. Weather Rev., 134, 1600–1606, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR3138.1, 2006. a
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Short summary
Oftentimes when objective measurements are not possible, human estimates are used instead. In our study, we investigate the reproducibility of human judgement for size estimates, the mappings of avalanches from oblique photographs and remotely sensed imagery. The variability that we found in those estimates is worth considering as it may influence results and should be kept in mind for several applications.
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