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dc.contributor.authorLarsen, Håvard Toft
dc.contributor.authorVerplanck, Samuel V.
dc.contributor.authorLandrø, Markus
dc.date.accessioned2024-11-11T09:01:49Z
dc.date.available2024-11-11T09:01:49Z
dc.date.issued2024-08-16
dc.description.abstractThis study examines the impact force applied from hand taps during extended column tests (ECTs), a common method of assessing snow stability. The hand-tap loading method has inherent subjectivity and inconsistencies across US, Canadian, Swiss, and Norwegian written standards. We developed a device, the “tap-o-meter”, to measure the force-time curves during these taps and collected data from 286 practitioners, including avalanche forecasters and mountain guides in Scandinavia, Central Europe, and North America. The mean, median, and inner-quartile peak forces are distinctly different for each loading step (wrist, elbow, and shoulder), and the peak force approximately doubles from one loading step to the next. However, there is considerable overlap across the range of measurements and examples of participants with higher-force wrist taps than other participants' shoulder taps. This overlap challenges the reliability and reproducibility of ECT results, potentially leading to dangerous interpretations in avalanche decision-making, forecasting, and risk assessments. Our results provide an answer to the question “How hard do avalanche practitioners tap?” but not necessarily to the question “How hard should avalanche practitioners tap?” These data and insights are intended to facilitate discussion among the tests' creators, the scientific community, and the practitioner community to update thresholds, guidelines, and test interpretation.en_US
dc.identifier.citationLarsen, Verplanck, Landrø. How hard do avalanche practitioners tap during snow stability tests?. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 2024;24(8):2757-2772en_US
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 2291427
dc.identifier.doi10.5194/nhess-24-2757-2024
dc.identifier.issn1561-8633
dc.identifier.issn1684-9981
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/35607
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherCopernicus Publicationsen_US
dc.relation.journalNatural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccessen_US
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2024 The Author(s)en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_US
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)en_US
dc.titleHow hard do avalanche practitioners tap during snow stability tests?en_US
dc.type.versionpublishedVersionen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen_US
dc.typePeer revieweden_US


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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)