Latest developments in snow science and avalanche risk management research – merging theory and practice
Latest developments in snow science and avalanche risk management research – merging theory and practice
Editor(s): Hans-Peter Marshall (Boise State University, United States), Erich Peitzsch (United States Geological Survey, United States), Ingrid Reiweger (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria), and Pascal Haegeli (Simon Fraser University, Canada)

After a 5-year hiatus, the International Snow Science Workshop (ISSW), the largest snow-avalanche-focused science meeting in the world, is taking place again this autumn. This year’s conference is taking place in Bend, Oregon, from 5–13 October 2023. Building on the tradition of previous ISSWs, we take this opportunity to compile a special issue that summarizes the latest developments in snow science and avalanche risk management research.

We invite all ISSW presenters interested in a peer-reviewed scientific publication to submit manuscripts that explain their research in more detail than in the conference proceedings. To be considered, these papers need to be scientifically more rigorous, which means that they contain expanded technical information, additional details on methods, and a more complete description of results and conclusions.

Avalanche risk management is an inherently interdisciplinary challenge that requires an in-depth understanding of both the natural phenomenon and the people interacting with that hazard. Hence, we encourage submissions from a wide range of topics including but not limited to avalanche dynamics, snow stability, snow remote sensing, snow modelling, and snow instrumentation, as well as decision-making and the human aspects of avalanche risk management. We welcome theoretical contributions but encourage authors to highlight the practical relevance of their work.

To round out the special issue, we are approaching community leaders to write invited review papers that discuss the latest accomplishments and challenges in different core areas of snow science and avalanche risk management research. The intent of these articles is to provide accessible, up-to-date summaries of the current state of the research areas for both researchers and practitioners. If you are interested in writing one of these review papers, please contact one of the editors.

Review process: all papers of this special issue underwent the regular interactive peer-review process of Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences handled by members of the editorial board as well as guest editors designated by the NHESS executive editors.

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02 Oct 2024
Glide-snow avalanches: a mechanical, threshold-based release area model
Amelie Fees, Alec van Herwijnen, Michael Lombardo, Jürg Schweizer, and Peter Lehmann
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 3387–3400, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3387-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3387-2024, 2024
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01 Oct 2024
Particle and front tracking in experimental and computational avalanche dynamics
Michael Neuhauser, Anselm Köhler, Anna Wirbel, Felix Oesterle, Wolfgang Fellin, Johannes Gerstmayr, Falko Dressler, and Jan-Thomas Fischer
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-164,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-164, 2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: open, 1 comment)
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26 Aug 2024
Review article: A scoping review of human factors in avalanche decision-making 
Audun Hetland, Rebecca Anne Hetland, Tarjei Tveito Skille, and Andrea Mannberg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1628,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1628, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for NHESS (discussion: final response, 7 comments)
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10 Jun 2024
The Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale (ATES) v.2
Grant Statham and Cam Campbell
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-89,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-89, 2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: final response, 6 comments)
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05 Jun 2024
Key learning moments as predictors for understanding snowpack dynamics during a season-long avalanche course?
Tim Dassler, Richard Fjellaksel, and Gerit Pfuhl
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1533,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1533, 2024
Revised manuscript under review for NHESS (discussion: final response, 4 comments)
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23 Apr 2024
A quantitative module of avalanche hazard—comparing forecaster assessments of storm and persistent slab avalanche problems with information derived from distributed snowpack simulations
Florian Herla, Pascal Haegeli, Simon Horton, and Patrick Mair
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-871,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-871, 2024
Revised manuscript under review for NHESS (discussion: final response, 6 comments)
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22 Apr 2024
Simulation of cold powder avalanches considering daily snowpack and weather situations to enhance road safety
Julia Glaus, Katreen Wikstrom Jones, Perry Bartelt, Marc Christen, Lukas Stoffel, Johan Gaume, and Yves Bühler
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-771,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-771, 2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: final response, 4 comments)
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19 Apr 2024
Supershear crack propagation in snow slab avalanche release: new insights from numerical simulations and field measurements
Grégoire Bobillier, Bertil Trottet, Bastian Bergfeld, Ron Simenhois, Alec van Herwijnen, Jürg Schweizer, and Johan Gaume
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-70,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-70, 2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: final response, 2 comments)
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16 Apr 2024
The effect of propagation saw test geometries on critical cut length
Bastian Bergfeld, Karl W. Birkeland, Valentin Adam, Philipp L. Rosendahl, and Alec van Herwijnen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-690,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-690, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for NHESS (discussion: final response, 4 comments)
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05 Apr 2024
An updated EAWS matrix to determine the avalanche danger level: derivation, usage, and consistency
Karsten Müller, Frank Techel, and Christoph Mitterer
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-48,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-48, 2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: final response, 2 comments)
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03 Apr 2024
Monitoring snow depth variations in an avalanche release area using low cost LiDAR and optical sensors
Pia Ruttner-Jansen, Annelies Voordendag, Thierry Hartmann, Julia Glaus, Andreas Wieser, and Yves Bühler
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-744,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-744, 2024
Revised manuscript under review for NHESS (discussion: final response, 6 comments)
Short summary
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