Natural Resources and Conservation Vol. 2(2), pp. 11 - 24
DOI: 10.13189/nrc.2014.020201
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Rule Based Classification of Potential Snow Avalanche Areas

Nagarajan R ^1,*, Venkataraman G ¹, Snehamani ^2
1 Center of Studies in Resources Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Powai,Mumbai-400076, India
² Snow and Avalanche Studies Establishment, DRDO, Him Parisar, Plot No 1, Sector 37A, Chandigarh - 160 036 (UT), India

ABSTRACT

Snow avalanche events depend not only on the accumulated snow cover over the mountain slope but also the subsequent snowfall intensity. Spatial snow holding capacity of mountain slopes and the probability of initiation of snow avalanches over parts of Beas River valley, Himachal Pradesh, India, was attempted using maps showing terrain characteristics and satellite images along with meteorological information. Contributory factors in retaining the snowfall, snow fall variation and snow pack characteristics were ranked and assigned weightage towards the avalanche initiation based on the reported events in the region. Spatial distribution of Snow Accumulation Zone (SAZ), Snow fall Area(SFA) and Snow Pack Stability (SPS) assessment criteria was developed.

KEYWORDS
Snow Avalanche, Terrain, Meteorological Parameters, Ranking, Weighting, Rule Based Strategies

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Nagarajan R , Venkataraman G , Snehamani , "Rule Based Classification of Potential Snow Avalanche Areas," Natural Resources and Conservation, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 11 - 24, 2014. DOI: 10.13189/nrc.2014.020201.

(b). APA Format:
Nagarajan R , Venkataraman G , Snehamani (2014). Rule Based Classification of Potential Snow Avalanche Areas. Natural Resources and Conservation, 2(2), 11 - 24. DOI: 10.13189/nrc.2014.020201.