3D animation shows what happens when an avalanche strikes

The avalanche simulation could help avert future mountain disasters

A cutting edge digital simulation of an avalanche could help avert future mountain disasters by helping scientists understand how these complex events take place.

Avalanches are complex and involve many variables that control how the snow behaves from the beginning to the end of the event.

To recreate this complexity, Johan Gaume, a researcher at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland, worked with a team of Californian 3D modelling experts, some of whom had helped create the snow in the Disney film Frozen.

“What made our approach so original was that we took account of the fact that the snow in that type of avalanche behaves like both a solid and a fluid,” said Mr Gaume.

Together, the team created the first realistic and scientifically accurate recreation of a snow slab avalanche – an event that takes place when a clear linear crack appears at the top of a snow pack.

These avalanches are usually triggered when an extra load such as a skier comes into contact with the snow.

“In addition to deepening our knowledge of how snow behaves, this project could make it possible to assess the potential size of an avalanche, the runout distance and the pressure on any obstacles in the avalanche’s path more accurately,” said Mr Gaume.

The work was published in the journal Nature Communications.