Ski mounted ground penetrating radar?

[nickinbc]

Heard an item on CBC radio this morning about a Norwegian group developing ski mounted, ground penetrating radar to detect weak layers in the snowpack and warn the user of avalanche hazard. For a moment I thought it was an elaborate April's Fool, but a search found a report dated March 29th and a couple of web sites for the startup. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...snow-1.5075809 https://www.thinkoutside.no/radarprop https://sknow.ski/

They did acknowledge it would probably alert too late if skiing down so only potentially useful on the skin up.

Very much doubt it could ever evolve into a simple, reliable, tool for recreational users (too many false positives and false negatives). Maybe there is some potential to develop a tool for avalanche professionals to detect spatial variability?

[Hacksaw]

They did acknowledge it would probably alert too late if skiing down so only potentially useful on the skin up.

Very much doubt it could ever evolve into a simple, reliable, tool for recreational users (too many false positives and false negatives).

Hummm.... Maybe you can get this for your avalanche Poodle.....

[cmcrawfo]

I hear this article too...

I cant see the public uptake being much for this product .... They talk about the device using machine learning, and taking data points from multiple skiers over multiple days from the same are to build a more accurate picture / interpretation. Shit, many folks wont even submit a MIN report because they worry its gonna bring the bro bras into their secret stash. Who is gonna sign up for their exact ski track data to be disseminated?

Perhaps they are targeting the guide/ op community?

In the end, I perceive this as just another fancy do-dad that is only gonna serve to increase peoples risk taking behaviors. And I suspect I would actually serve to re-enforce you making riskier decisions that may otherwise not made without the tool.

also .... I Wonder how the radar is gonna impact the beacon signal.

[Core Shot]

Sounds cool for a guided operation. Create a detailed map of your permitted terrain and any weak areas.

[cmor]

They skipped a lot of near impossible to overcome steps and are going straight to market. Definitely going to work.

[PNWbrit]

They skipped a lot of near impossible to overcome steps and are going straight to marketing. Definitely going to work.

FIFY

[Alpinord]

FWIW, I passed this link to a long time BC enthusiast:

"We've (CSAS and H.P. Marshall) been skiing with the pro sized version of this, LIDAR, for several years at Senator Beck. It will identify density and depth and therefore potential weak layers, but it doesn't do any more than snow pits with no stability tests for avy prediction"

For more info from Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies on: Radar Field Campaign

[nickwm21]

FWIW, I passed this link to a long time BC enthusiast:

"We've (CSAS and H.P. Marshall) been skiing with the pro sized version of this, LIDAR, for several years at Senator Beck. It will identify density and depth and therefore potential weak layers, but it doesn't do any more than snow pits with no stability tests for avy prediction"

For more info from Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies on: Radar Field Campaign

LIDAR and GPR are pretty different.

Drone + GPR is probably a pretty good solution to get solid snowpack data without putting humans at risk.


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[cmcrawfo]

LIDAR and GPR are pretty different.

Drone + GPR is probably a pretty good solution to get solid snowpack data without putting humans at risk.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

If you know a few grad students, I bet you could get a kickstarter going.