Avalanche susceptibility factors, trends, techniques, and practices in Indian Himalaya: A review

Abstract

Avalanche susceptibility mapping is the primary step for avalanche investigation, safer planning, and future development activities. Therefore, investigation of the terrain, snowpack and meteorological characteristics are crucial for the avalanche susceptibility assessment. In this paper, various parameters responsible for different types of avalanche occurrence and their significance are discussed for Indian Himalayas. This paper reviews 373 research papers published between 2013 and 2024 to gain insight into the current trends, techniques, and practices used in avalanche susceptibility mapping. After reviewing the related literature, it has been observed that no universally acceptable standard parameters or model exist that can describe all types of avalanche activities adequately. Secondly, based on expert knowledge about all snowpack and meteorological parameters, only twelve parameters are mainly used in the snow avalanche related prediction model. Hence, there is a need to explore the combination of other parameters and their impact to improve the model's accuracy. It highlights important aspects and provides a broader perspective on avalanche mapping that may be useful for practitioners worldwide, while also serving as a valuable database for researchers in this field, particularly those working in the Himalayan region. Finally, the vital issues arising in this research field that need to be addressed by the researchers are discussed. It is expected that the accuracy and applicability of models could be greatly improved, by incorporating big data geo-analytics techniques, utilizing deep learning methods, and spatiotemporal modelling.