Simulation of the flow of a snow avalanche.

The aim of this project is to better understand the dynamics of snow avalanches in order to be able to know, in the event of an avalanche, the direction it will take. This information allows us to know, in the event of an accident, where people may be trapped.

To study this phenomenon, a tool has been developed to simulate the flow of an avalanche. This model is modified at the discretion of the experts involved in the different phases of validation and verification of the project.

During the validation phases, experts check the difference between simulated model results and real avalanche records by performing Turing tests.

This is a transdisciplinary project with the collaboration of:

• The Geographic Institute of Catalonia
• The Faculty of Geology of the Universitat de Barcelona
• The Aran Vall Council’s avalanche forecasting area

Validation of any simulation model requires information from the real system. In the case of snow avalanches, there is little or no information available when it comes to experimental data attempting to detail the interior of the flow. For this reason, a data collection campaign was launched (2011 – 2012) thanks to the collaboration of the Aran Vall Council.

The objective of the campaign is to collect the maximum amount of data from the avalanche by:

• Seismograph (UB Geology)
• High-definition filming equipment
• Sensors to record avalanche flow movements (inLab)

This information will allow a second phase of model validation to begin, analysing the internal dynamics of the avalanche and continuing the development of the model.