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UID:pretalx-qgis-uc2026-QDCCUB@talks.osgeo.org
DTSTART;TZID=CET:20261006T140000
DTEND;TZID=CET:20261006T143000
DESCRIPTION:Snow avalanches are a destructive force that pose significant r
 isks for exposed buildings\, public roads or ski resort infrastructure. In
  order to mitigate this risk to infrastructure and additionally reducing t
 he exposure of professional workers\, remote avalanche control systems (RA
 CS) are widely used in mountainous regions all over the world. These RACS 
 contain explosive charges that are deployed in fall before the start of wi
 nter\, either by helicopter or by foot depending on the system. During win
 ter\, if meteorological circumstances require it\, explosive charges can b
 e triggered remotely in order to release avalanches in a controlled and sa
 ve manner. When triggered\, the explosive charge hangs on a rope underneat
 h the deployment box and above the snowpack to maximize its effective rang
 e. In spring the magazine is flown down and stored in a building for maint
 enance and prolonging the lifetime of the system\, while the 10 m tower st
 ays in place. Due to these systems being placed within the release zone of
  the avalanches and in a high alpine environment they need to be anchored 
 to the ground using five anchors of up to 9 m in length depending on groun
 d conditions. An optimal planning phase ahead of construction work optimiz
 es installation costs and avoids possible repositioning of the system in t
 he future. Furthermore\, the RACS should be placed in order to maximize th
 e effective range of the explosive charge on the snowpack. Finding the opt
 imal balance between minimizing the amount of systems needed while still a
 ffecting the release area with the explosive blast. QGIS supports this pro
 cess of finding the optimized RACS placements and communicating proposed l
 ocations to our customers. As a base dataset a DEM of 2-5 m spatial resolu
 tion and the area of interest the customer wants to affect are used. Viewi
 ng the terrain in a 3D viewer allows to get a first understanding of the t
 errain in order to set the first possible locations of RACS. Due to the ra
 dial expansion of the pressure wave the explosive effect of the charge can
  be modeled by calculating a viewshed. Based on measurements of the pressu
 re wave’s effect of a 4.5 kg explosive charge a 120 m radius effective r
 ange is applied for the viewshed at a viewpoint height of 4 m. After analy
 sing the calculated viewshed\, adaptions to the RACS placements can be mad
 e to further optimize the effective range. These steps will then be iterat
 ed until the optimal locations have been determined and verified in the te
 rrain during a field visit. Versions of possible RACS placement can then b
 e visualized in two dimensional or three dimensional maps. These maps we t
 hen use as a communication tool to the customer to discuss the amount of R
 ACS and the optimal locations of the systems that we propose.
DTSTAMP:20260724T192807Z
LOCATION:Pegna
SUMMARY:Using QGIS to plan remote avalanche control systems - Matthias Pley
 er
URL:https://talks.osgeo.org/qgis-uc2026/talk/QDCCUB/
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