An energy-based method to calculate streamwise density variations in snow avalanches

Abstract

AbstractSnow avalanches are gravity-driven flows consisting of hard snow/ice particles. Depending on the snow quality, particularly temperature, avalanches exhibit different flow regimes, varying from dense flowing avalanches to highly disperse, mixed flowing-powder avalanches. In this paper we investigate how particle interactions lead to streamwise density variations, and therefore an understanding of why avalanches exhibit different flow types. A basic feature of our model is to distinguish between the velocity of the avalanche in the mean, downslope direction and the velocity fluctuations around the mean, associated with random particle movements. The mechanical energy associated with the velocity fluctuations is not entirely kinetic, as particle movements in the slope-perpendicular direction are inhibited by the hard boundary at the bottom giving rise to a change in flow height and therefore change in flow density. However, this volume expansion cannot occur without raising the center of mass of the particle ensemble, i.e. an acceleration, which, in turn, exerts a pressure on the bottom, the so-called dispersive pressure. As soon as the volume no longer expands, the dispersive pressure vanishes and the pressure returns to the hydrostatic pressure. Different streamwise density distributions, and therefore different avalanche flow regimes, are possible.