Investigation of snow-forest interactions (Snowsciences Rothwald)
Abstract
After heavy storms in 1990 huge parts of Rothwald region-one of the most important forests in the northern Kalkalpen of Lower Austria-were deforested. Yet this extreme situation also spawned a interesting research field. The idea of the "Rotwald-project" was born and started in 1993 supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (BMLF) in cooperation with the Institute of Forest and Mountain Risk Engineering (BOKU). The testfield (800-1800m) is characterised by very high precipitationrates and snowhights between 1-3 m in 1000m altitude.Six weatherstations and dataloggers were situated in the area to measure relevant datas for the snowmechanic exploration as snowdepth, snow gliding and snow creeping.Snowprofiles and creeping profiles were taken eyery one to two weeks. By using snow gliding shoes (analog and digital) the snow gliding on several expositions and slopes was observed. Based on these data a numerical finite element model has been developed on Abaqus. The experience and the model itself can be seen as a big profit for many students and science. Especially the model is a important tool for further projects.That is why the whole project can be seen as a unique one in the whole eastern alps.
keywords snow-forest-interaction
Publikationen
Project staff
Karl Kleemayr
Ass.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Karl Kleemayr
Project Leader
20.12.1994 - 31.12.1999