Forest-avalanche interactions in selected sites of the Alps and the Andes

CASTELLER, A.; BEBI, P.; GONZÁLEZ, M.; VILLALVA, R.; BARTELT, P.; VERA V.

Davos

Conferencia; DACA-13; 2013

IAMAS - IACS - IUGG

Snow avalanches threaten settlements and infrastructure in diverse mountainous regions around the world. Archival data of past events can serve as a tool for elaborating avalanche hazard maps; yet, written records tend to be short, scarce, and fragmentary, particularly in regions where settlements have established only recently. Dendrochronological methods represent a precise tool for spatio-temporally reconstructing the occurrence of snow avalanches in forested regions. The application of these methods can therefore complement written documents or serve in their place if non-existent. In the past few years, tree rings have also served as a basis for the calibration of avalanche simulation models such as AVAL-1D and RAMMS, which are used by engineers and land planners to prepare hazard maps. Avalanche models have been developed and tested primarily in Europe, and upon their application in other mountainous regions, friction parameters need to be adjusted. For example, it is crucial to quantify the effects of forest cover in decelerating snow avalanches. Preliminary results will be presented of studies conducted in the Alps (Switzerland) and the Andes (Chile) aiming at increasing the knowledge on forest-avalanche interactions and better integrating forest effects in existing avalanche dynamics models and risk analysis.