Estimation of potential snow avalanche probability in areas below protective forests in Austria

570-577

Bandaufführung

200212306

The hazard maps available in Austria do not provide information on the areas potentially protected by forest and the probability of hazard occurrence. Furthermore, the protective function mapping of forests is based on ordinal scales of the hazard potential and the vulnerability of the assets to be protected. A finer scale level improves risk-based prioritisations of measures required to maintain and quantifications of the provided ecosystem service. We developed a method to quantify the potential spatio-temporal occurrence of snow avalanches in terms of hazard probability in potential release and transit areas on a continuous scale and implemented the method to areas potentially protected by forests. The potential probability of hazard occurrence does not consider forest effects but is a key component of protective forest management. The method was developed to highlight the importance of protective forests by including the effects of forest in avalanche zones in a next step.