Drones could change avalanche control in Canada. Here’s how | CBC News
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Instead of firing artillery weapons or throwing explosives from a helicopter, a Canadian company is using drones for avalanche control.
Last year, the federal government gave Aerial Vehicle Safety Solutions Inc., (AVSS) permission to test its SnowDart system for avalanche control.
This winter, AVSS tested that technology in Jasper National Park. The company uses a drone to fly an explosive up a mountain and then drops it onto the slope before it’s remotely detonated.
“This just gives us another tool in the toolbox,” said Josh Ogden, co-founder of AVSS.
Historically, a variety of tools have been used for avalanche control in Canada, including 105 mm howitzer guns, where the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery of the Canadian Armed Forces fires a shell onto a mountain slope, creating a shockwave that releases an avalanche.
Radio Active8:25Avalanche control using drones
The Canadian government gave permission for a company to explore new ways to do avalanche control using drones. Josh Ogden is the co-founder of Aerial Vehicle Safety Solutions.
Parks Canada also uses helicopters to strategically drop explosives to trigger avalanches.
In some locations, remote trigger stations are built right into the slopes.
According to Ogden, drones could be particularly useful for areas not accessible to an artillery gun and without remote trigger stations.
They can also be cheaper than using helicopters.
A snowy season
It’s been a busy winter for avalanche control in Western Canada.
In British Columbia, Parks Canada looks after a 43-kilometre stretch of Highway 1 through Glacier National Park. The road is threatened by 135 different avalanche paths.
Over an average winter, the highway is closed for a total of 79 hours for avalanche control. But this winter, the highway was closed for a total of 191 hours, which works out to almost eight days.
A spokesperson for Parks Canada said the increase was due to December being the second snowiest since records started to be kept in 1962, as well as an atmospheric river in March.
The Homestretch9:46Highway 93 avalanche
The Icefields Parkway, Highway 93 North, remains closed, while crews work around the clock to clear avalanche debris. Extreme weather conditions forced Parks Canada to trigger several large avalanches along the highway on the weekend. One resulted in a huge dump of snow right on the parkway.
By comparison, the Icefields Parkway, which goes from Jasper to Lake Louise in Alberta, was closed for just 22 days this winter. However, Parks Canada told CBC News that is actually the most hours the road has been closed over a winter in “recent memory.”
What comes next?
A variety of industries are exploring drone technology. Drones are now used to inspect bridges, respond to 911 calls and deliver food.
“Drones are becoming more and more background noise, which I think is what we want,” said Ogden.
Deryl Kelly, a visitor safety specialist with Parks Canada, said in a statement that drones may support managing avalanche risk in the future, but they will not become the only tool for avalanche control as they depend on good weather.
Regardless, testing will continue next winter and some other mountainous areas in Canada may even start using the technology, said Ogden.
The use of drones for avalanche control looks promising, said Brian Rode, vice-president of the Marmot Basin ski resort in Jasper National Park. He said the ski resort will watch how the technology continues to develop and when it comes to market.
In the meantime, he said the ski hill will continue to use explosive charges for avalanche control.