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Journal of Arid Land
Journal of Arid Land  2021, Vol. 13 Issue (4): 317-331    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-021-0058-5
Research article     
Characteristics and hazards of different snow avalanche types in a continental snow climate region in the Central Tianshan Mountains
HAO Jiansheng1,2, Richard MIND'JE1,3, LIU Yang1,3,4,5,6, HUANG Farong1,3,4,5,6, ZHOU Hao7, LI Lanhai1,3,4,5,6,*()
1State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
2Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
3Ili Station for Watershed Ecosystem Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinyuan 835800, China
4University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
5CAS Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia, Urumqi 830011, China
6Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Utilization in Arid Zone, Urumqi 830011, China
7Transport Department of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi 830000, China
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Abstract  

Snow avalanches are a common natural hazard in many countries with seasonally snow-covered mountains. The avalanche hazard varies with snow avalanche type in different snow climate regions and at different times. The ability to understand the characteristics of avalanche activity and hazards of different snow avalanche types is a prerequisite for improving avalanche disaster management in the mid-altitude region of the Central Tianshan Mountains. In this study, we collected data related to avalanche, snowpack, and meteorology during four snow seasons (from 2015 to 2019), and analysed the characteristics and hazards of different types of avalanches. The snow climate of the mid-altitude region of the Central Tianshan Mountains was examined using a snow climate classification scheme, and the results showed that the mountain range has a continental snow climate. To quantify the hazards of different types of avalanches and describe their situation over time in the continental snow climate region, this study used the avalanche hazard degree to assess the hazards of four types of avalanches, i.e., full-depth dry snow avalanches, full-depth wet snow avalanches, surface-layer dry snow avalanches, and surface-layer wet snow avalanches. The results indicated that surface-layer dry snow avalanches were characterized by large sizes and high release frequencies, which made them having the highest avalanche hazard degree in the Central Tianshan Mountains with a continental snow climate. The overall avalanche hazard showed a single peak pattern over time during the snow season, and the greatest hazard occurred in the second half of February when the snowpack was deep and the temperature increased. This study can help the disaster and emergency management departments rationally arrange avalanche relief resources and develop avalanche prevention strategies.



Key words： continental snow climate      avalanche hazard      full-depth snow avalanche      surface-layer snow avalanche      hazard assessment      disaster management     
Received: 27 August 2020      Published: 10 April 2021
Corresponding Authors:
About author: * LI Lanhai (E-mail: lilh@ms.xjb.ac.cn)
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Jiansheng HAO
MIND'JE Richard
Yang LIU
Farong HUANG
Hao ZHOU
Lanhai LI
Cite this article:

HAO Jiansheng, Richard MIND'JE, LIU Yang, HUANG Farong, ZHOU Hao, LI Lanhai. Characteristics and hazards of different snow avalanche types in a continental snow climate region in the Central Tianshan Mountains. Journal of Arid Land, 2021, 13(4): 317-331.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-021-0058-5     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2021/V13/I4/317

Fig. 1 Location of the study area (a) and distribution of avalanche paths in the surrounding of the Tianshan Station for the Snow Cover and Avalanche Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (TSSAR; a), and overview of the TSSAR (b). Photos of snow avalanche deposits blocking the road and measurement of the width, height, and length, (W, H, and L, respectively) of the deposit body from the avalanche are also shown. G218, National Road 218.
Observation project Observation content Abbreviation Unit
Scale of avalanche deposits Width W m
Length L m
Height H m
Volume V m3
Mass M t
Properties of avalanche deposits Composition
(snow, snow and soil, and snow-soil and vegetation)		 S, SS, SSV
Density D kg/m3
Liquid water content LWC m3/m3
Type of avalanches Full-depth dry snow avalanche FDA
Full-depth wet snow avalanche FWA
Surface-layer dry snow avalanche SDA
Surface-layer wet snow avalanche SWA
Table 1 Parameters used for describing avalanche characteristics
Fig. 2 Density (a), volume (b), weight (c), and avalanche damage index (d) of FDA, SDA, SWA, and FWA deposits in the Central Tianshan Mountains. FDA, full-depth dry snow avalanche; SDA, surface-layer dry snow avalanche; SWA, surface-layer wet snow avalanche; FWA, full-depth wet snow avalanche. Boxes represent interquartile ranges (25th to 75th percentiles); thick horizontal bars in each box denotes the median (50th percentile); whiskers (thin horizontal bars) represent the highest and the lowest values, respectively; black small triangle denotes the average value.
Fig. 3 Seasonal development of the snow depth for the four snow seasons from 2015 to 2019
Fig. 4 Seasonal changes of air temperature for the four snow seasons from 2015 to 2019
Fig. 5 Cumulative number (a) and avalanche activity index (b) of different snow avalanche types in different time intervals for the four snow seasons from 2015 to 2019
Fig. 6 Temporal distribution of hazard degree of different avalanche types (a) and the overall avalanche hazard degree of the four types (b)
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