Studies on the snow avalanche dynamics by the full-scale experiments

Abstract

Systematic full-scale but small avalanche experiments have been started since 2016 in Niseko, a ski resort in Hokkaido, Japan. Although the vertical drop in the test sites are 100 to 200 m, they have advantages that we are able to access relatively easy and can expect both dry avalanches in February and wet ones in March. On top of that, it has a potential that we can look at the phenomena closer and investigate the detailed structures and mechanism of avalanches. Although the artificial releases and measurements were not always successful so far, data for three wet snow avalanches were obtained and they revealed that the combination of different data is effective measures to characterize their structures.