ACINN Graduate Seminar - WS 2025/26

2025-11-26 at 12:00 (on-line and on-site)

From Gut Feelings to Gigabytes: Avalanche Forecasting in the Digital Age

Christoph Mitterer

Tyrolean Provincial Government

 

Avalanche forecasting is undergoing a paradigm shift—from intuition-driven assessments rooted in local expertise and manual observations to an integrated, data-rich, and model-informed discipline. Modern forecasting blends traditional field observations with high-resolution weather models, snowpack simulations, and automated data assimilation to create more objective and reproducible forecasts. This transition enhances spatial and temporal coverage and increases consistency allowing forecasters to better anticipate complex snowpack behaviors and emerging avalanche conditions. However, the challenge lies in balancing computational insight with human judgment, ensuring that models complement rather than replace experienced intuition. This presentation explores how the fusion of gut feelings and gigabytes is redefining operational avalanche forecasting in the digital age.

 

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