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Experience of Artificial Avalanche Release: Problems and Prospects

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Abstract

Preventive avalanching in the Khibiny has been carried out for almost 90 years. The experience accumulated in this area allows evaluating it critically. The methods of preventive avalanching in the Khibiny Mountains, in other regions of Russia, and other countries are analyzed. The most widely used methods are those based on the effects of explosions on the snowpack stability. Despite such long-term experience, a scientific basis for their use is not sufficiently developed, and there are no rational methods for their application. The insufficient knowledge of the mechanisms of avalanche release and short-term impulse loads on the snow stability, as well as the high spatial variability of snow characteristics that control its stability at an avalanche starting zone, and the almost complete absence of their measurements are the main obstacles to solving these problems. The development and realization of a state program aimed at improving the effectiveness of artificial avalanche release could make the current situation better.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Special Design Bureau for Automation of Marine Research, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 693023, Yuzno-Sakhalinsk, Russia

    P. A. Chernous

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  1. P. A. Chernous
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Correspondence to P. A. Chernous.

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Translated from Meteorologiya i Gidrologiya, 2022, No. 8, pp. 14-25. https://doi.org/10.52002/0130-2906-2022-8-14-25.

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Chernous, P.A. Experience of Artificial Avalanche Release: Problems and Prospects. Russ. Meteorol. Hydrol. 47, 582–589 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068373922080039

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