Guest Speakers

Susanne Whalen

Susanne Wahlen is the head of monitoring solutions at GEOPRAEVENT, a firm specializing in alarm and monitoring systems for natural hazards based in Zurich. Susanne holds an MSc in climate sciences from ETH Zurich and a postgraduate diploma in risk, disaster and resilience from UCL London. After several years in R&D and applications in the field of measurement technology, Susanne’s focus at GEOPRAEVENT is the interface between natural hazard management and customized technical monitoring solutions. 

 

Autonomous multi-station avalanche detection system based on long-range radar technology for road safety at Bear Pass, BC 

The real-time avalanche detection system on Highway 37A was tailored to the remote location and harsh environmental conditions at Bear Pass and consists of two long-range avalanche radar stations and a radio link station for independent data transmission. The system is designed for autonomous operation of more than 6 months without on-site intervention and includes automatic event mapping with high-resolution images and event notification. In the first season, the system detected more than 1200 events and assisted the avalanche team to reduce avalanche-related road closures by more than 40%.