Snow instability data provide information about the mechanical state of the snow cover and
are essential for forecasting snow avalanches. So far, direct observations of instability …

Snow instability is a generic term describing the propensity of a snow slope to avalanche. In
need of a concise mechanics‐based concept we suggest a framework based on failure …

The failure of a weak snow layer is the first in a series of processes involved in dry‐snow
slab avalanche release. The nature of the initial failure within the weak layer is not yet fully …

Our understanding of dry-snow slab avalanche release improved over the last decade–not
the least by consistently following a fracture mechanical approach. Whether we consider …

Snow avalanches represent a natural hazard to infrastructure and backcountry
recreationists. Risk assessment of avalanche hazard is difficult due to the sparse nature of …

Snow properties relevant to the fracture processes involved in dry-snow slab avalanche
release include weak layer specific fracture energy, slab elastic modulus and density …

Assessing the avalanche danger level requires snow stratigraphy and instability data. As
such data are usually sparse, we investigated whether distributed snow cover modeling can …

Abstract Information on snowpack stability, ie, on the propensity for failure initiation and
crack propagation in a weak layer, is essential for forecasting snow avalanches. To …

Spatial and temporal variations are inherent characteristics of the alpine snow cover. Spatial
heterogeneity is supposed to control the avalanche release probability by either hindering …

To perform spatial snow cover simulations for numerical avalanche forecasting, interpolation
and downscaling of meteorological data are required, which introduce uncertainties. The …