Evaluation of avalanche release depths. Combined statistical-mechanical modeling
type: Dataset
description: The evaluation of avalanche release depth distributions represents a major challenge for hazard management in mountaineous regions. This depth constitutes an important input ingredient of hazard mapping procedures. This PhD thesis presents a rigorous formalism in which these distributions are expressed through a coupling of mechanical and meteorological factors. The stability criterion of a layered snowpack is investigated using a finite-element analysis accounting for the spatial heterogeneity of weak-layer mechanical properties. Considering that an avalanche can occur only if the snowfall depth exceeds a critical value corresponding to a stability criterion, release depth distributions obtained from the mechanical model are coupled with the distribution of 3-day extreme snowfalls. We show that this coupled model is able to reproduce field data from 369 natural slab avalanches in La Plagne (France). Not only the power-law tail of the distribution, corresponding to large slab depths, but also the core of the distribution for shallow slab depths, are well represented. Small to medium-sized avalanches appear to be controlled mainly by mechanics, whereas large avalanches and the associated power-law exponent, are influenced by a strong mechanical-meteorological coupling. Finally, we demonstrate that the obtained distribution is strongly space dependent, and, using max-stables processes allowing a rigorous spatial interpolation, our coupled model is used to obtain release depth maps for given return periods in the whole French Alps.
landing page: https://theses.hal.science/tel-00770156
identifier: NNT: 2012GRENU019
keyword: avalanche
keyword: couche-fragile
keyword: hauteur-de-depart
keyword: infoeu-reposemanticsdoctoralthesis
keyword: mechanically-based-statistical-model
keyword: modele-mecanique-statistique
keyword: neige
keyword: plaque
keyword: release-depth
keyword: sdustusciences-of-the-universe-physicsearth-sciences
keyword: slab
keyword: snow
keyword: theses
keyword: weak-layer
issued: 2026-05-15T13:59:47.899412
modified: 2026-05-15T13:59:47.899417
language: fr
contact point: Organization
  fn: CCSD

test_moissonnage_selune
type: Agent

Evaluation of avalanche release depths. Combined statistical-mechanical modeling
type: Distribution
format: HTML
access URL: https://theses.hal.science/tel-00770156
issued: 2026-05-15T13:59:47.911248
modified: 2026-05-15T13:59:47.870077