The CSAC Avalanche Institute - Terrain Analysis and Mapping

Avalanche Terrain Mapping Course

- Contributors can log in for advertising-free pages.

This is the background information for the Avalanche Terrain Mapping and Assessment course offered online through the Avalanche Institute.

Overview

This is a professional level non-recreational course. It covers the assessment and mapping of avalanche paths for large but infrequent events (i.e. a 100 year avalanche, etc). Recreational avalanche training is not a prerequisite. It does not include material which will assist anyone in improving backcountry safety.

This course will be run periodically when there are enough students to form a class and an instructor with enough time to facilitate it. It is not self-paced, although the pace can be adapted to suit the majority of the class. Interaction with other students and with the instructor is a key part of the class, as are assignments that allow students to assess their understanding and the instructor and developer to assess the effectiveness of the course.

General Description

This class is designed for people who want or need to know more about the analysis and mapping of avalanche terrain at the individual path scale. This includes (but is not limited to):

Anyone interested in the topic, for reasons ranging from potential property purchases to their own general interest
Civil/Structural engineers who need to rely on such maps and want to be able to assess their quality
Planners who may be involved in commissioning studies and implementing zoning requirements
Technicians wanting to expand their backgrounds to be able to assist in this type of work under qualified supervision

This course covers the analysis and mapping of avalanche terrain on the scale of individual paths. It covers different methodologies, each of which may or may not apply in particular cases.

Because of the inherently technical nature of this work there are some basic prerequisites for this course. They are not at the level of professional engineering, but do include such things as basic right-triangle trigonometry and simple statistics.

This course may be a prerequisite for others, either by itself or in addition to other requirements.

Objectives

There are several general objectives for this course:

1 - Upon completion students should be able to participate and assist in the production of avalanche hazard maps under the supervision of an engineer or physical scientist with experience and knowledge in the field of snow avalanches.

2 - Students should be able to select a person or company to produce an avalanche hazard map based on their knowledge of what skills are involved and whether or not the person/company is suitably qualified.

3 - Students should be able to assess the quality of a hazard map and report based on the methods that were used and the thoroughness of the final product.

Topics

This is the course outline:

Prerequisite quizes and exercises
Trigonometry (right triangles)
Statistics (mean, median, etc)
Topographic Maps
Background and Context
Approaches to Avalanche Mitigation
The phases of avalanche mitigation projects
Purpose and limitations of the course
Types of Avalanche Maps and their purposes
Avalanche Basics
Basic Avalanche Path Features
Avalanche Dynamics
Avalanche Sizes and Return Intervals
Extreme Events
Topographic Maps and Digital Elevation Models (DEM)
Scales
Terrain Profiles
Sources
Combining maps, DEM files, and photography
Aerial Photography
Basics, Background Information and Theory
Viewing and Interpreting
Fieldwork
Terrain Measurements
Transported Materials
Vegetation Analysis
Basic Dendrochronology
Historical Data
Climate Data
Avalanche Events
Presentation of Results
Putting it all together
Documentation Final Reports

Course material

There are no required books ar articles for this course. All material will be made available as the course progresses.

The field work will require some basic surveying equipment. In some cases this may be borrowed from somebody who is in surveying or forestry, or from a college or community college. Where more than one student is enrolled from the same area the equipment may be shared, or it may be borrowed from somebody local who has taken the class in the past. AlpenPro, the course sponsor, may be able to loan a limited number of items out. As the course is taught more over time there will be more items available to loan. For students wishing to purchase everything for their own future use the total cost should be approximately $200 as a minimum. For items such as stereoscopes the cost can go up appreciably if the student opts to invest in a more advanced type, as somebody in engineering may wish to.

Students will need to find an avalanche path to analyze which is accessible to them. They will need to obtain maps and aerial photos covering the path.

Human and Technical Resources

This course is interactive and provides instructor access. The online facilities allow for the submission of assignments for instructor review and/or peer review. Students can also share materials in order to cooperate on assignments.

No special technical resources are required in terms of computing equipment. A fast internet connection will work best, dial-up may prove to be very difficult as a primary or only connection. Any browser should work ok. There will be a need for simple programs such as a photo/graphics editor but for anyone without one already these can be downloaded for free.

Assessment

A variety of assessment methods will be used throughout the course. In some cases simple online tests will be used - multiple choice, fill in the blanks, matching, etc. These are scored automatically and feedback is immediate. In other cases students will need to submit something for instructor review or for class discussion.

All assessments are pass/fail, as is the course. Assessments often serve as checkpoints, or prerequisites for following topics. The purpose is to determine that the student has learned at least the key points for each topic. In addition to evaluating student learning the assessments also help highlight areas where improvement is needed in the course.

Additional Background

Today, at least in the US, there is no clear understanding of what constitutes an "expert" with the ability to produce accurate terrain assessments and maps. It is difficult to assess final reports and maps since those commissioning them or relying on them often lack an appreciation of what methods should go into producing them, and what the limitations and abilities of those methods are.

AlpenPro has often been contacted by planners, engineers, property owners planning to build, and others with questions and concerns over maps and technical analyses which they had some doubt about. In many cases the person who did the original work had no background in many of the relevant methodologies. In many, perhaps most, cases the work was not supervised or reviewed by a qualified engineer or scientist.

It is, of course, impossible to make anyone totally competent in each of the methodologies covered in an online course. While professionals who do terrain analysis and mapping need to be competent to varying degrees in each methodology that may apply they rely on experts in certain specialties when necessary. The goal of this course is to help the student understand what goes into a quality analysis and map. They should be able to assist in such work, and to assess the quality of final reports and maps created by others.