Investigation of Evaluation Indexes for Severe Snowstorm Events in the Snowy Cold Region of Japan

Date and Time: Tuesday, May 9, 2023: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Keck 100

 

Lead Presenter:  Yusuke Harada, 
Affiliation:  Civil Engineering Research Institute for Cold Region
Social Media Handle:  @Yusuke Harada

Lead Presenter Biography

Yusuke Harada has been a senior researcher of the Snow and Ice Research Team at the Civil Engineering Research Institute for Cold Region Japan since 2011. He is engaged in research on blowing-snow and avalanche control measures and mitigate snowstorm-related disasters. He had worked in a construction and snow disaster consultant company from 1999 to 2011, Snow Avalanche and Landslide Research Center, Public Works Research Institute Japan from 2017 to 2019. 

Co-Authors

Satoshi Omiya, Ph.D. Civil Engineering Research Institute for Cold Region, Public Works Research Institute somiya@ceri.go.jp +81-11-841-1746 Hirotaka Takechi Civil Engineering Research Institute for Cold Region, Public Works Research Institute hiro-takechi@ceri.go.jp +81-11-841-1746 Atsushi Nishimura Civil Engineering Research Institute for Cold Region, Public Works Research Institute nishimura-a22ab@ceri.go.jp +81-11-841-1746

Presentation Description 

In this study, we investigate 1) Obstruction Level and 2) Warning Level as evaluation indexes for severe snowstorm events focusing on the severity, expansion and duration of snowstorm events given the need to mitigate snowstorm-related disasters. In this presentation, we introduce the evaluation indexes of 1) Obstruction Level. We present a method for estimating blowing-snow obstacles, and set four levels of obstruction due to snowstorms based on our analysis of national highway closures and the hourly snow transport rate. Based on the results, Obstruction Levels 0, 1 and 2 lasted 0 – 3 hours, 3 – 6 hours and 6 hours or longer, respectively, when visibility decreases to less than 50 meters in blowing snow, and Obstruction Level 3 involved a snowdrift depth on the road of more than 20 cm per 3 hours. Using this result, hazard maps are developed based on the occurrence frequencies of Obstruction Levels in the cold snowy regions of Japan using past meteorological dataset. Going forward, a system will be developed to display predicted values for the Obstruction and Warning Levels in the northern part of Japan using forecasted hourly grid point value for meteorological data to support decision making of road management.

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