Can hear the avalanche falling
The meter is now located in Bolungarvík. mbl.is/Sigurður Bogi
The Icelandic Met Office is currently conducting experiments with an incoming sound-meter that can detect avalanches when they fall. The meter can detect low frequency sound waves that follow avalanches and are outside of the human hearing range.
The meter was first installed in Suðurtangi in Ísafjörður but is now located in Syðridalur in Bolungarvík, where there is also another earthquake meter. This project has been in cooperation with an Italian University and Natural disaster institution in Switzerland specializing in avalanches and have been looking into using infrasound and seismic sensors to detect avalanches, according to Harpa Grímsdóttir, an expert at the Icelandic Met Office.
The third generation of radars that monitors avalanches above Flateyri have been tested for a year and a half. It took some time to adjust the radar. If it works well this winter the possibility of connecting it to an automatic device that can block traffic on the road to Flateyri if an avalanche falls in close proximity to the town.
