DISASTER

Disasters both manmade and

natural have affected mankind
since time in memorial

Disasters occur in varied

forms
Floods
Days and weeks
Earthquakes Seconds/minutes
Cyclones
Days
Droughts
Months

Some recent disasters

Earthquake in Pakistan 2005

Earthquake and tsunami in the Indian
coast - 2004
Gujarat Earthquake - 2001
Floods in Mumbai, West Bengal
Cyclone: Rita, Wilma etc..
Fire: Kumbakonam, Dabwali
Terrorist attack: Chechnya

Fig: 2.1.6

Mortality due to natural hazards

1990 - 2000

Anand Patwardhan, IIT-Bombay

13

FORMATION OF AVALANCHE
Avalanches are always formed by an
external stress on the snow-pack; they are
not random or spontaneous events.
Natural formation: precipitation, rapid
warming, rock fall, ice fall, and other
impulse loads

 Artificial formation: skiers, snowmobiles,

and controlled explosive work
Triggering stress: a small avalanche may
apply significant overburden pressure to
the snow-pack, disturbing deeper
weaknesses, and a larger avalanche may
form as a result

CLASSIFICATIONS
Loose snow avalanches: often occur in
freshly fallen, low-density surface
snow, or in older surface snow that has
been softened by strong solar
radiation. In loose snow avalanches,
the release usually starts at a point
and the avalanche gradually widens as
it travels down the slope and entrains
more snow.

 Slab avalanches: Slab avalanches form

frequently in new snow, wind deposited
snow, and, less frequently, in old snow,
and have the characteristic appearance
of a block of snow cut out from its
surroundings by fractures.
Elements: a crown fracture at the top of
the start zone, flank fractures on the
sides of the start zones, and a fracture
at the bottom called the stauch wall.

 Among the largest and most powerful of

avalanches, dry slab avalanches can
exceed speeds of 300 km/h, and masses
of 10,000,000 tonnes; their flows can
travel long distances along flat valley
bottoms and even uphill for short
distances.
A powder snow avalanche is a turbulent
cloud of snow and air that forms when an
avalanche travels over an abrupt change
in slope angle, such as a cliff band

Powder snow Avalanche

 For over 30 years, evidence has been

accumulating from full scale experiments
in the USSR (see Bozhinskiy and Losev,
1998, Ch. 5.4 for a summary and
references), Canada (Schaerer and
Salway, 1980), Japan (Nishimura and
others, 1987) and Europe (Schaer and
Issler, 2001; Gauer and others, 2007) that
a third ow regime, intermediate between
the well-known dense and suspension
regimes, occurs in dry-snow avalanches.

 The entrainment of snow has now been

recognized as a major factor in the
dynamics of avalanches. It must be
concluded that perhaps the majority of
medium to large avalanches double or
even triple their mass from release to
runout; in the track, the moving mass may
be more than ve times the original mass
(Sovilla and others, 2001).

 It has been clearly recognized for a long

time that entrainment has two aspects:
One concerns the breaking up of the
snowcover into particles (ranging in size
from snow grains to large blocks); this
process is the main focus of this paper
and will be termed erosion. The erosion
speed we is the velocity (measured in the
direction perpendicular to the ground) at
which the surface of the intact
snowcover is lowered due to erosion.

 The other aspect is the entrainment of the

eroded snow into the ow through
acceleration and possibly mixing. The
entrainment rate
is the snow
mass per unit time and unit area that is
incorporated into the avalanche, where
is the fraction of the eroded snow that is
eventually entrained.

FACTORS AFFECTING AVALANCHE

Terrain: The angle of the slope that can hold snow,
called the angle of repose, depends on a variety of
factors such as crystal form and moisture content.
Some forms of drier and colder snow will only stick
to lower angle slopes; while wet and warm snow
can bond to very steep surfaces.
Diurnal cycles of thawing and refreezing can
stabilize the snow-pack by promoting settlement.
Strong freeze thaw cycles result in the formation of
surface crusts during the night, and the formation
of unstable surface snow during the day.

 The rule of thumb is: A slope that is flat

enough to hold snow but steep enough to
ski has the potential to generate an
avalanche, regardless of the angle.
Weather: Among the critical factors
controlling snowpack evolution are:
heating by the sun, radiational cooling,
vertical temperature gradients in standing
snow, snowfall amounts, and snow types.
mild winter weather will promote the
settlement, and very cold/windy/ hot
weather will weaken the snowpack.

 Dynamics: When a slab avalanche forms, the

slab disintegrates into increasingly smaller
fragments as the snow travels downhill. If the
fragments become small enough the outer
layer of the avalanche, called a saltation layer,
takes on the characteristics of a fluid. When
sufficiently fine particles are present they can
become airborne and, given a sufficient
quantity of airborne snow, this portion of the
avalanche can become separated from the bulk
of the avalanche and travel a greater distance
as a powder snow avalanche

M0DELLING
Since the 1990s many more sophisticated models
have been developed. In Europe much of the recent
work was carried out as part of the SATSIE (Avalanche
Studies and Model Validation in Europe) research
project supported by the European Commission[19]
which produced the leading-edge MN2L model, now in
use with the Service Rstitution

PREVENTION
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE
The simplest active measure is by
repeatedly traveling on a snowpack as
snow accumulates; this can be by means of
boot-packing, ski-cutting, or machine
grooming. Explosives are used extensively
to prevent avalanches, by triggering smaller
avalanches that break down instabilities in
the snowpack, and removing over burden
that can result in larger avalanches.

 Explosive charges are delivered by a

number of methods including hand tossed
charges, helicopter dropped bombs,
Gazex concussion lines, and ballistic
projectiles launched by air cannons and
artillery
Passive preventive systems such as Snow
fences and light walls can be used to
direct the placement of snow. Snow builds
up around the fence, especially the side
that faces the prevailing winds. Downwind
of the fence, snow buildup is lessened.

 To mitigate the effect of avalanches, artificial

barriers can be very effective in reducing
avalanche damage.
One kind of barrier (snow net) uses a net
strung between poles that are anchored by guy
wires in addition to their foundations.
Another type of barrier is a rigid fence like
structure (snow fence) and may be constructed
of steel, wood or pre-stressed concrete.
landscaped barriers, called avalanche dams
stop or deflect avalanches with their weight and
strength

SAFETY IN AVALANCHE
MANAGEMENT
Terrain management
Group management
Risk Factor Awareness
Leadership
Control measures
Early warning systems