Drones reduce risk in avalanche-prone mountains
Findings from the research project Geosfair indicate that drones can supplement – and in some cases, partly replace – costly helicopter flights, providing more precise data on snow avalanches. The result is faster decisions, less uncertainty, and shorter road closures. In turn, winter roads become safer.
NGI tests drones at the Fonnbu research station in Strynefjellet. The technology provides rapid, precise data for assessing avalanche risk. ( Photo: Regula Frauenfelder / NGI)
How can we best monitor and manage avalanche risk along Norway’s mountain passes? In Geosfair, which has recently concluded, drones were tested as a tool for collecting rapid, high-precision data to support avalanche assessments and decisions related to safe traffic management.
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) led the project, with NGI and SINTEF as research partners. The primary aim was to determine how drones can be utilized to assess natural hazards – primarily snow avalanches – by providing better decision support more quickly than before.
Drones supplement helicopter operations
The premise behind the project was straightforward: The Norwegian Public Roads Administration invests significant resources in keeping roads safe from avalanches, and society incurs large costs when roads must remain closed for hours or days due to avalanche danger. Geosfair investigated how drones equipped with different types of sensors can help keep roads closed for as short a time as possible while maintaining high safety standards:
- Photogrammetry, a method for creating terrain models from images, proved particularly effective in good light conditions.
- Lidar, a laser-based distance-measuring sensor, was able to rapidly map snow surfaces and volumes in almost any lighting, even light snowfall.
- Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) provided information on snow layering, density, and moisture content.
All methods were tested at full scale under demanding field conditions.
Test flights at Fonnbu showed how drones can supplement or replace costly helicopter flights in avalanche assessments. ( Photo: Regula Frauenfelder / NGI)
Field testing at Fonnbu
A key testing ground was NGI’s research station Fonnbu in Strynefjellet. Here, NGI contributed logistics, field facilitation, and validation of results using field-measured data.
“Our role was to facilitate the fieldwork at Fonnbu and ensure that the tests were carried out under realistic conditions. This was essential to obtaining reliable results,” says Regula Frauenfelder, technical expert in remote sensing and geophysics at NGI and leader of one of the project’s work packages.
She also emphasises that the project has strengthened NGI’s drone capabilities and helped highlight Fonnbu as an arena for innovation and winter research.
NGI’s Fonnbu research station in Strynefjellet is a base for winter testing and innovation in avalanche research. ( Photo: Sunniva Skuset / NGI)
Faster decisions
A key conclusion from Geosfair is that drone data can be processed and made available to avalanche experts within a few hours. This provides authorities with a much better basis for determining whether a mountain road can remain open or must be closed during rapidly changing weather – and when a closed road can be safely reopened after a storm.
“Geosfair has shown that we can move from manual measurements, helicopter flights, and limited datasets to rapid, flexible drone operations delivering high-quality data. This makes us better equipped to make the right decisions as avalanche danger rises and falls,” says Tore Humstad, project manager and avalanche expert at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.
Towards remote drone stations?
Looking ahead, the potential could be even greater. The project recommends further development of remote-operated “drone stations” – small garages equipped with drones, positioned along exposed road sections, ready to take off whenever needed. Such systems could provide experts with up-to-date information without requiring personnel to enter hazardous situations.
“Two pilot projects demonstrated how this could work, with remotely controlled drone operations reducing both time use and risk. The results also point toward the use of artificial intelligence to analyse data more quickly,” says Frauenfelder.
Societal relevance
Snow avalanches close Norwegian mountain roads every year, resulting in significant costs in the form of delays, increased risk, and higher resource utilization. Geosfair has demonstrated how new technology can make this process safer, more cost-effective, and more accurate.
“The project demonstrates the value of connecting new technology directly to operational responsibility. When we know more, we can act both faster and more safely,” concludes Humstad.
See the project’s research findings in the National Research Archive (NVA).
Fieldwork at Fonnbu: drones equipped with lidar, photogrammetry, and GPR offer new insights into snow layers and terrain features. ( Photo: Sean Salazar / NGI)
Regula Frauenfelder
Technical Expert Remote Sensing and Geophysics regula.frauenfelder@ngi.no+47 976 85 864
