Articles | Volume 24, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-947-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-947-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
20 Mar 2024
Research article |
| 20 Mar 2024
| 20 Mar 2024
Automated Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale (ATES) mapping – local validation and optimization in western Canada
Geography Department, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center, Girdwood, AK, USA
Håvard Toft
Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, Oslo, Norway
Center for Avalanche Research and Education, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Pascal Haegeli
School for Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Grant Statham
School for Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Parks Canada, Banff, Alberta, Canada
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Short summary
The research validates and optimizes an automated approach for creating classified snow avalanche terrain maps using open-source geospatial modeling tools. Validation is based on avalanche-expert-based maps for two study areas. Our results show that automated maps have an overall accuracy equivalent to the average accuracy of three human maps. Automated mapping requires a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods and opens the door for large-scale mapping of mountainous terrain.
The research validates and optimizes an automated approach for creating classified snow...
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