UTILISATION OF THE SM4 AUTOMATIC SNOWPACK SENSOR IN AVALANCHE FORECASTING

• Main Authors: Harpa Grimsdottir, Orn Ingolfsson, Magni H Jonsson, Vidir Arnarson, Halfdan Ingolfsson, Sveinn Brynjolfsson, Gestur Hansson
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Norway; Iceland
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1049.1198; http://arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/objects/ISSW16_P1.30.pdf

ABSTRACT: A small innovation company in Iceland, POLS Engineering, has developed the SM4 automatic snowpack sensor that is currently installed at over 30 locations in Iceland and Norway as a tool for avalanche forecasting. POLS and the Icelandic Meteorological Office are collaborating in the development project Fjallasnjór (e. Mountainsnow) on further developing the instrument and the utilisation of data for avalanche forecasting. Within the project, new methods of installation in avalanche starting areas are being tested, the snowdepth algorithm is being improved, a method of monitoring the crystal growth rate in the snowpack is developed, and the control unit of the SM4 has been improved to allow for data transfer independent of GSM coverage as well as connection with other instruments such as anemometers.