Articles | Volume 17, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1475-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1475-2023
Research article
 | 
05 Apr 2023
Research article |  | 05 Apr 2023

A closed-form model for layered snow slabs

Philipp Weißgraeber and Philipp L. Rosendahl

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Temporal evolution of crack propagation characteristics in a weak snowpack layer: conditions of crack arrest and sustained propagation
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Cited articles

Bair, E. H.: Forecasting artificially-triggered avalanches in storm snow at a large ski area, Cold Reg. Sci. Technol., 85, 261–269, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2012.10.003, 2013. a
Bergfeld, B., van Herwijnen, A., Reuter, B., Bobillier, G., Dual, J., and Schweizer, J.: Dynamic crack propagation in weak snowpack layers: insights from high-resolution, high-speed photography, The Cryosphere, 15, 3539–3553, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3539-2021, 2021a. a
Bergfeld, B., van Herwijnen, A., Reuter, B., Bobillier, G., Dual, J., and Schweizer, J.: Dynamic crack propagation in weak snowpack layers: Insights from high-resolution, high-speed photography, The Cryosphere Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-360, 2021b. a, b
Bergfeld, B., van Herwijnen, A., Bobillier, G., Rosendahl, P. L., Weißgraeber, P., Adam, V., Dual, J., and Schweizer, J.: Temporal evolution of crack propagation characteristics in a weak snowpack layer: conditions of crack arrest and sustained propagation, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 293–315, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-293-2023, 2023a. a, b, c, d
Bergfeld, B., van Herwijnen, A., and Schweizer, J.: Time series data on dynamic crack propagation in long propagation saw tests, EnviDat [data set], https://doi.org/10.16904/envidat.365, 2023b. a, b, c
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Short summary
The work presents a mathematical model that calculates the behavior of layered snow covers in response to loadings. The information is necessary to predict the formation of snow slab avalanches. While sophisticated computer simulations may achieve the same goal, they can require weeks to run. By using mathematical simplifications commonly used by structural engineers, the present model can provide hazard assessments in milliseconds, even for snowpacks with many layers of different types of snow.
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