THEORY AND PRACTICE OF INDIVIDUAL SNOW AVALANCHE RISK ASSESSMENT IN THE RUSSIAN ARCTIC

Sven Fuchs,Sergey Sokratov,Aleksandr Shnyparkov,Yury Seliverstov,Marina Vikulina,Peter Koltermann

doi:10.24057/2071-9388-2012-5-3-64-81

Abstract

In recent years, the Government of the Russian Federation considerably increased attention to the exploitation of the Russian Arctic territories. Simultaneously, the evaluation of snow avalanches danger was enhanced with the aim to decrease fatalities and reduce economic losses. However, it turned out that solely reporting the degree of avalanche danger is not sufficient. Instead, quantitative information on probabilistic parameters of natural hazards, the characteristics of their effects on the environment and possibly resulting losses is increasingly needed. Such information allows for the estimation of risk, including risk related to snow avalanches. Here, snow avalanche risk is quantified for the Khibiny Mountains, one of the most industrialized parts of the Russian Arctic: Major parts of the territory have an acceptable degree of individual snow avalanche risk ( 1×10 -4 ) degree of individual snow avalanche risk (0.5 and 2% of the total area) correspond to the Southeast of the Khibiny Mountains where settlements and mining industries are situated. Moreover, due to an increase in winter tourism, some traffic infrastructure is located in valleys with an admissible or unacceptable degree of individual snow avalanches risk.

Highlights

In the Russian Arctic, where seasonal snow cover is one of the most important components of the environment, the regions endangered by snow avalanches include: the Khibiny Mountains at Kola Peninsula, the Byrranga Mountains, the Putorana Plateau, mountain areas of Yakutia, the Magadan region and Chukotka (Fig. 1)
Throughout Russia, the highest degree of snow avalanche danger is estimated for the Khibiny Mountains and some areas in the Magadan region
The developers immediately faced the threads of natural hazards, mainly of snow avalanches, they were entirely unprepared during the 1930s

Summary

Introduction

In the Russian Arctic, where seasonal snow cover is one of the most important components of the environment, the regions endangered by snow avalanches include: the Khibiny Mountains at Kola Peninsula, the Byrranga Mountains, the Putorana Plateau, mountain areas of Yakutia, the Magadan region and Chukotka (Fig. 1). 10–4) degree of individual snow avalanche risk (0,5 and 2% of the total area) correspond to the Southeast of the Khibiny Mountains where settlements and mining industries are situated.

Results

Conclusion