Avalanche/landslide Swiss researchers receive patent for avalanche warning device
Swiss researchers want to improve avalanche warnings with a new device. The Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) has been granted a patent for the device called "Snowimager", as it announced on Tuesday.
21.01.2025, 13:07
SDA
The "Snowimager" analyzes the boundaries between different layers of snow in the snowpack. Avalanche wardens still usually measure the snow cover by hand, which is time-consuming.
According to the SLF, which is part of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), the device speeds up and objectifies this process. The device therefore has the potential to replace traditional, manual snow profiles in the long term.
Individual snow layers differ, for example, in the density and type of snow crystals. Their boundaries and composition are important for avalanche warning services in order to identify weak layers. This is because these can break, either spontaneously or under pressure, for example from a skier. The density of the snow cover also plays an important role in providing timely warnings of floods.
Invisible light measures the snow
The device uses invisible near-infrared light to analyze the density and grain size of the snow layers. Two cameras measure how much light is reflected by the snow crystals. The smaller the crystals are, the more light is reflected back. In a second pass, the cameras measure how far the light spreads laterally. This makes it possible to determine how dense the snow cover is. The lower the density, the deeper the light penetrates into the snow layer. And the deeper it penetrates, the further it spreads laterally due to reflection from the crystals.
The SLF already has three such devices, which are lent to other research institutes and experts. The research institute wrote that there is great interest in them. In the next step, they now want to bring the device to series production.
