Abstract
Avalanche activity is an important factor when estimating the regional avalanche danger. Moreover, a complete and detailed picture of avalanche activity is needed to understand the processes that lead to natural avalanche release. Currently, information on avalanche activity is mainly obtained through visual observations. However, this involves large uncertainties in the number and release times, influencing the subsequent analysis. Therefore, alternative methods for the remote detection of snow avalanches in particular in non-observed areas are highly desirable. In this study, we use the excited ground vibration to identify avalanches automatically. The specific seismic signature of avalanches facilitates the objective detection by a recently developed classification procedure. A probabilistic description of the signals, called hidden Markov models, allows the robust identification of corresponding signals in the continuous data stream. The procedure is based upon learning a general background model from continuous seismic data. Then, a single reference waveform is used to update an event-specific classifier. Thus, a minimum amount of training data is required by constructing such a classifier on the fly. In this study, we processed five days of continuous data recorded in the Swiss Alps during the avalanche winter 1999. With the restriction of testing large wet-snow avalanches only, the presented approach achieved very convincing results. We successfully detect avalanches over a large volume and distance range. Ninety-two percentage of all detections (43 out of 47) could be confirmed as avalanche events; only four false alarms are reported. We see a clear dependence of recognition capability on run-out distance and source–receiver distance of the observed events: Avalanches are detectable up to a source-receiver distance of eight times the avalanche length. Implications for analyzing a more comprehensive data set (smaller events and different flow regimes) are discussed in detail.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ancey C, Meunier M, Richard D (2003) Inverse problem in avalanche dynamics models. Water Resour Res 39(4):1099. doi:10.1029/2002WR001749
Arattano M (1999) On the use of seismic detectors as monitoring and warning systems for debris flows. Nat Hazards 20(2–3):197–213. doi:10.1023/A:1008061916445
Arattano M, Marchi L (2008) Systems and sensors for debris-flow monitoring and warning. Sensors 8(4):2436–2452. doi:10.3390/s8042436
Bessason B, Eiriksson G, Thorarinsson O, Thorarinsson A, Einarsson S (2007) Automatic detection of avalanches and debris flows by seismic methods. J Glaciol 53(182):461–472. doi:10.3189/002214307783258468
Biescas B, Dufour F, Furdada G, Khazaradze G, Suriñach E (2003) Frequency content evolution of snow avalanche seismic signals. Surv Geophys 24(5–6):447–464. doi:10.1023/B:GEOP.0000006076.38174.31
Dammeier F, Moore JR, Hammer C, Haslinger F, Loew S (2016) Automatic detection of alpine rockslides in continuous seismic data using hidden Markov models. J Geophys Res Earth Surf 121(2):351–371. doi:10.1002/2015JF003647
Deparis J, Jongmans D, Cotton F, Baillet L, Thouvenot F, Hantz D (2008) Analysis of rock-fall and rock-fall avalanche seismograms in the French Alps. Bull Seismol Soc Am 98(4):1781–1796. doi:10.1785/0120070082
Eckerstorfer M, Bühler Y, Frauenfelder R, Malnes E (2016) Remote sensing of snow avalanches: recent advances, potential, and limitations. Cold Reg Sci Technol 121:126–140. doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2015.11.001
Graveline MH, Germain D (2016) Ice-block fall and snow avalanche hazards in northern Gaspesie (eastern Canada): triggering weather scenarios and process interactions. Cold Reg Sci Technol 123:81–90. doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2015.11.012
Greene E, Atkins D, Birkeland K, Elder K, LAndry C, Lazar B, McCammon I, Moore M, Sharaf D, Sterbenz C, Tremper B, Williams K (2010) Snow, weather and avalanches: observational guidelines for avalanche programs in the United States. American Avalanche Association (AAA) Pagosa Springs.
Hammer C, Beyreuther M, Ohrnberger M (2012) A seismic-event spotting system for volcano fast-response systems. Bull Seismol Soc Am 102(3):948–960. doi:10.1785/0120110167
Hammer C, Ohrnberger M, Faeh D (2013) Classifying seismic waveforms from scratch: a case study in the alpine environment. Geophys J Int 192(1):425–439. doi:10.1093/gji/ggs036
Hammer C, Ohrnberger M, Schlindwein V (2015) Pattern of cryospheric seismic events observed at Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Geophys Res Lett 42(10):3936–3943. doi:10.1002/2015GL064029
Horasan G, Guney AB, Kusmezer A, Bekler F, Ogutcu Z, Musaoglu N (2009) Contamination of seismicity catalogs by quarry blasts: an example from Istanbul and its vicinity, northwestern Turkey. J Asian Earth Sci 34(1):90–99. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2008.03.012
Jolly AD, Thompson G, Norton GE (2002) Locating pyroclastic flows on Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, West Indies, using amplitude signals from high dynamic range instruments. J Vol Geotherm Res 118(3):299–317. doi:10.1016/S0377-0273(02)00299-8
Knapmeyer-Endrun B, Hammer C (2015) Identification of new events in Apollo 16 lunar seismic data by Hidden Markov Model-based event detection and classification. J Geophys Res Planets 120(10):1620–1645. doi:10.1002/2015JE004862
Kogelnig A, Hübl J, Suriñach E, Vilajosana I, McArdell B (2011a) Infrasound produced by debris flow: propagation and frequency content evolution. Nat Hazards 70(3):1713–1733. doi:10.1007/s11069-011-9741-8
Kogelnig A, Suriñach E, Vilajosana I, Hübl J, Sovilla B, Hiller M, Dufour F (2011) On the complementariness of infrasound and seismic sensors for monitoring snow avalanches. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 11(8):2355–2370. doi:10.5194/nhess-11-2355-2011
Lacroix P, Grasso JR, Roulle J, Giraud G, Goetz D, Morin S, Helmstetter A (2012) Monitoring of snow avalanches using a seismic array: Location, speed estimation, and relationships to meteorological variables. J Geophys Res Earth Surf 117, F01034. doi:10.1029/2011JF002106
Laternser M, Schneebeli M (2002) Temporal trend and spatial distribution of avalanche activity during the last 50 years in Switzerland. Nat Hazards 27(3):201–230. doi:10.1023/A:1020327312719
Lato MJ, Frauenfelder R, Bühler Y (2012) Automated detection of snow avalanche deposits: segmentation and classification of optical remote sensing imagery. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 12(9):2893–2906. doi:10.5194/nhess-12-2893-2012
Leprettre B, Navarre J, Taillefer A (1996) First results from a pre-operational system for automatic detection and recognition of seismic signals associated with avalanches. J Glaciol 42(141):352–363. doi:10.3198/1996JoG42-141-352-363
Leprettre B, Martin N, Glangeaud F, Navarre JP (1998) Three-component signal recognition using time, time-frequency, and polarization information-application to seismic detection of avalanches. IEEE Trans Signal Process 461:83–102. doi:10.1109/78.651183
Marchi L, Arattano M, Deganutti A (2002) Ten years of debris-flow monitoring in the Moscardo Torrent (Italian Alps). Geomorphology 46(1–2):1–17. doi:10.1016/S0169-555X(01)00162-3
Marienthal A, Hendrikx J, Birkeland K, Irvine KM (2015) Meteorological variables to aid forecasting deep slab avalanches on persistent weak layers. Cold Reg Sci Technol 120(SI):227–236. doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2015.08.007
McClung DM, Schaerer P (2006) The avalanche handbook. The Mountaineers Books, Seattle
Navarre JP, Bourova E, Roulle J, Deliot Y (2009) The seismic detection of avalanches: an information tool for the avalanche forecaster. In: International snow science workshop. International Snow Science Workshop, Davos, Switzerland, SEP 27–OCT 02, pp 379–383
Pérez-Guillén C, Tapia M, Furdada G, Suriñach E, McElwaine JN, Steinkogler W, Hiller M (2014) Evaluation of a snow avalanche possibly triggered by a local earthquake at Vallee de la Sionne, Switzerland. Cold Reg Sci Technol 108:149–162. doi: 10.1016/j.coldregions.2014.07.007
Pérez-Guillén C, Sovilla B, Suriñach E, Tapia M, Köhler A (2016). Deducing avalanche size and flow regimes from seismic measurements. Cold Reg Sci Technol 121:25–41. doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2015.10.004
Prokop A, Wirbel A, Jungmayr M (2013) The avalanche detector–a new avalanche monitoring tool using distributed acoustic fibre optic sensing. In: International snow science workshop, International Snow Science Workshop, Grenoble Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France, pp. 458–462
Rabiner L (1989) A tutorial on hidden markov-models and selected applications in speech recognition. Proc IEEE 77(2):257–286
Reiweger I, Schweizer J (2013) Measuring acoustic emissions in an avalanche starting zone to monitor snow stability. In: International snow science workshop, International Snow Science Workshop, Grenoble Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France, pp. 942–944
Reiweger I, Mayer K, Steiner K, Dual J, Schweizer J (2015) Measuring and localizing acoustic emission events in snow prior to fracture. Cold Reg Sci Technol 110:160–169. doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2014.12,002
Rubin MJ, Camp T, Herwijnen AV, Schweizer J (2012) Automatically detecting avalanche events in passive seismic data. In: Proceedings of the 2012 11th international conference on machine learning and applications, vol. 1. ICMLA ’12, pp 13–20. doi:10.1109/ICMLA.2012.12
Sabot F, Naaim M, Granada F, Suriñach E, Planet P, Furdada G (1998) Study of avalanche dynamics by seismic methods, image-processing techniques and numerical models. Ann Glaciol 26:319–323. doi:10.3198/1998AoG26-1-319-323
Schweizer J, van Herwijnen A (2013) Can near real-time avalanche occurrence data improve avalanche forecasting? In: International snow science workshop. International Snow Science Workshop, Grenoble Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France, 2013, pp. 195–198
Schweizer J, Jamieson B, Schneebeli M (2003) Snow avalanche formation. Rev Geophys 41(4):1944–9208. doi:10.1029/2002RG000123
Schweizer J, Mitterer C, Stoffel L (2008) Determining the critical new snow depth for a destructive avalanche by considering the return period. In: International snow science workshop, International Snow Science Workshop, Whistler, Canada, SEP 21-26, pp. 292–298
Schweizer J, Mitterer C, Stoffel L (2009) On forecasting large and infrequent snow avalanches. Cold Reg Sci Technol 59(2–3, SI):234–241. doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2009.01.006
Scott ED, Hayward CT, Colgan TJ, Hamann JC, Fubichek RF, Pierre JW, Yount J (2006) Practical implementation of avalanche infrasound monitoring technology for operational utilization near teton pass wyoming. In: International snow science workshop
Steinkogler W, Sovilla B, Lehning M (2014) Influence of snow cover properties on avalanche dynamics. Cold Reg Sci Technol 97:121–131. doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2013.10.002
Stoffel A, Meister R, Schweizer J (1998) Spatial characteristics of avalanche activity in an alpine valley-a gis approach. Ann Glaciol 26:329–336. doi:10.3198/1998AoG26-1-329-336
Suriñach E, Furdada G, Sabot F, Biescas B, Vilaplana J (2001) On the characterization of seismic signals generated by snow avalanches for monitoring purposes. Ann Glaciol 32:268–274. doi:10.3189/172756401781819634
Suriñach E, Sabot F, Furdada G, Vilaplana J (2000) Study of seismic signals of artificially released snow avalanches for monitoring purposes. Phys Chem Earth Part B Hydrol Oceans Atmos 25(9):721–727. doi:10.1016/S1464-1909(00)00092-7
Suriñach E, Vilajosana I, Khazaradze G, Biescas B, Furdada G, Vilaplana JM (2005) Seismic detection and characterization of landslides and other mass movements. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 5(6):791–798. doi:10.5194/nhess-5-791-2005
Thüring T, Schoch M, van Herwijnen A, Schweizer J (2015) Robust snow avalanche detection using supervised machine learning with infrasonic sensor arrays. Cold Reg Sci Technol 111:60–66. doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2014.12.014
Ulivieri G, Marchetti E, Ripepe M, Chiambretti I, Da Rosa G, Segor V (2011) Monitoring snow avalanches in Northwestern Italian Alps using an infrasound array. Cold Reg Sci Technol 69(2–3, SI):177–183. doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2011.09.006
Valt M, Pesaresi D (2009) Detecting snow avalanches with seismic stations in North-east Italy: first results of dataset analysis. In: International snow and science workshop, International Snow Science Workshop, Davos, Switzerland, SEP 27-OCT 02, pp. 458–462
Van Herwijnen A, Schweizer J (2011) Monitoring avalanche activity using a seismic sensor. Cold Reg Sci Technol 69(2–3, SI):165–176. doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2011.06.008
Van Herwijnen A, Schweizer J (2011b) Seismic sensor array for monitoring an avalanche start zone: design, deployment and preliminary results. J Glaciol 57(202):267–276. doi:10.3189/002214311796405933
Van Herwijnen A, Heck M, Schweizer J (2014) Detecting avalanches using seismic monitoring systems. In: International snow science workshop. International Snow Science Workshop, Banff, pp 116–121
Vilajosana I, Suriñach E, Abellan A, Khazaradze G, Garcia D, Llosa J (2008) Rockfall induced seismic signals: case study in Montserrat, Catalonia. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 8(4):805–812. doi:10.5194/nhess-8-805-2008
Wilhelm C, Wiesinger T, Brundl M, Ammann W (2000) The avalanche winter 1999 in Switzerland – an Overview. In: International snow science workshop, pp. 487–494
Acknowledgements
This work was partly funded by the project Swiss Experiment, funded by the Competence Center for Environment and Sustainability of the ETH Domain (CCES). We thank Jürg Schweizer from SLF for providing detailed information on avalanches used in this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hammer, C., Fäh, D. & Ohrnberger, M. Automatic detection of wet-snow avalanche seismic signals. Nat Hazards 86, 601–618 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2707-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2707-0