Seismic Avalanche Detection for the Turnagain Arm Transportation Corridor

Details

• Creators:
  Lynch, Richard
• Corporate Creators:
  Viotel Pty. Ltd
• Corporate Contributors:
  Colorado Department of Transportation. Office of Applied Research ; Transportation Avalanche Research Pool
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Detectors
  • Avalanches
  • Seismic prospecting
  • Fault monitoring
  • Accelerometers
  • Transportation corridors
  • Hybrid vehicles
  • avalanche detection
  • seismic monitoring
  • MEMS accelerometer
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Alaska
• Edition:
  Final Report (Dec 2025 - May 2026)
• Corporate Publisher:
  Colorado Department of Transportation. Applied Research & Innovations Branch
• Abstract:
  Three inexpensive ultra-low-noise MEMS accelerometers were deployed along the Turnagain Arm corridor near Girdwood, Alaska, to evaluate automated seismic avalanche detection. Over 145 days of monitoring, 400 seismic events were recorded including two confirmed avalanches on the same evening (one detected seismically, one confirmed by sensor burial). A hybrid classification algorithm achieves 94.7% cross-validated accuracy and correctly identifies the detected avalanche. The detection algorithm requires validation with additional avalanche events in a second monitoring season.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  CDOT-2026-02 ; VIOT1318-RPT-2026-001
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/92467/dot_92467_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.68 MB]
• Collection(s):
  FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center for Advanced Aerospace ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:00bd6eeb5bde6587be061c717d216cb1cf580c0ad552092284c096a355673d9695dae077523149427038dbd441cea3cd20c534b0485425e3f5f7da15d4e3224d