Mapping avalanches with satellites – evaluation of performance and completeness

Hafner, Elisabeth D.; Techel, Frank; Leinss, Silvan; Bühler, Yves

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-983-2021

Articles | Volume 15, issue 2

The Cryosphere, 15, 983–1004, 2021

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-983-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

The Cryosphere, 15, 983–1004, 2021

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-983-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 15, issue 2

Research article 24 Feb 2021

Research article | 24 Feb 2021

Mapping avalanches with satellites – evaluation of performance and completeness

Elisabeth D. Hafner et al.

Data sets

Satellite avalanche mapping validation data Elisabeth D. Hafner, Frank Techel, Silvan Leinss, and Yves Bühler https://doi.org/10.16904/envidat.202

Short summary

Satellites prove to be very valuable for documentation of large-scale avalanche periods. To test reliability and completeness, which has not been satisfactorily verified before, we attempt a full validation of avalanches mapped from two optical sensors and one radar sensor. Our results demonstrate the reliability of high-spatial-resolution optical data for avalanche mapping, the suitability of radar for mapping of larger avalanches and the unsuitability of medium-spatial-resolution optical data.