Wet slab avalanches: theory and recent research…or what do we really know about wet slabs?
Peitzsch, E. 2008. Wet slab avalanches: theory and recent research…or what do we really know about wet slabs?, The Avalanche Review, 26:4, 20-21.
Erich Peitzsch, Ph.D
Biography
Education
Ph.D. Earth Sciences, Snow Science. 2020. Montana State University, Bozeman
MS. Earth Sciences (Snow Science). 2009. Montana State University, Bozeman
BA. Environmental Studies. 2000. Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR
Research Interests
My main interests lie in the realm of snow and ice. Previous projects include investigating wet snow avalanche processes, such as water movement in the snowpack and its implications for wet slab avalanches. Working as an avalanche forecaster for the spring opening of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park allows me to continue work on wet snow avalanche projects such as glide slab avalanches. I am also interested in investigating ecological change associated with avalanches, avalanche runout probability, and the relationship between climate and avalanches. Other research interests include monitoring mass balance of small mountain catchment glaciers.
Science and Products
Date published: October 29, 2020
Status: Active USGS Snow and Avalanche Project
Snow avalanches are a widespread natural hazard to humans and infrastructure as well as an important landscape disturbance affecting mountain ecosystems. Forecasting avalanche frequency is challenging on various spatial and temporal scales, and this project aims to fill a gap in snow science by focusing on reconstructing avalanche history on the continental mountain range scale - throughout...
Contacts: Erich Peitzsch, Ph.D
Attribution: Climate Research and Development Program
Date published: September 13, 2017
Status: Active Science in Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park (GNP) is considered a stronghold for a large diversity of plant and animal species and harbors some of the last remaining populations of threatened and endangered species such as grizzly bear and bull trout, as well as non threatened keystone species such as bighorn sheep and black bear. The mountain ecosystems of GNP that support these species are dynamic and influenced...
Date published: May 5, 2016
Status: Active Climate Change in Mountain Ecosystems (CCME)
Climate change is widely acknowledged to be having a profound effect on the biosphere with many and diverse impacts on global resources. Mountain ecosystems in the western U.S. and the Northern Rockies in particular are highly sensitive to climate change. In fact, the higher elevations of the Northern Rockies have experienced three times the global average temperature increase over the past...
Contacts: Erich Peitzsch, Ph.D, Caitlyn Florentine, Ph.D.
Date published: April 6, 2016
Status: Active Going-to-the-Sun Road Avalanche Forecasting Program
As the most popular attraction in Glacier National Park (GNP), the Going-to-the-Sun Road traverses scenic alpine zones and crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass (2026m or 6,647' elevation). The Park closes a 56km (34.8 mile) section of the road each winter due to inclement weather, heavy snowfall, and avalanche hazards. Annual spring opening of the road is a highly anticipated event...
Contacts: Erich Peitzsch, Ph.D
Date published: April 6, 2016
Status: Active Natural Hazards of Spring Opening of Going to the Sun Road
The Going-to-the-Sun (GTTS) Road in Glacier National Park, Montana is one of the park's premier attractions and the most heavily used facility. The road traverses Glacier, from the west entrance in West Glacier to the east entrance in St. Mary. The narrow, 52-mile road crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass, at an elevation of 6880 feet. The Logan Pass section of the GTTS Road is closed...
Contacts: Erich Peitzsch, Ph.D
Date published: April 6, 2016
Status: Active Retreat of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
Worldwide glacier recession is well documented (1,2) and varied model projections suggest that certain studied GNP glaciers will disappear in the next few decades, between 2030 (3) to 2080 (4). USGS scientists in Glacier National Park are collaborating with glaciologist from Alaska and Washington and using emerging technologies to understand glacier-climate interactions to advance the...
Contacts: Erich Peitzsch, Ph.D, Lisa McKeon
Date published: April 6, 2016
Status: Active Landscape Change Photography
Repeat photography is being used by the CCME program to document landscape change. Glaciers have been the primary focus of this park-wide survey and this collection of repeat photographs, available for download on the CCME website, have been used to illustrate the effects of climate change in venues across the globe. These powerful images, with their inherent ease of interpretation, have...
Contacts: Lisa McKeon, Erich Peitzsch, Ph.D
Date published: April 5, 2016
Status: Active Snow and Avalanche Research
Snow scientists with the USGS are unraveling specific weather, climate, and snowpack factors that contribute to large magnitude avalanches in an effort to understand these events as both a hazard and a landscape–level disturbance. The Snow and Avalanche Project (SNAP) advances our understanding of avalanche-climate interactions and wet snow avalanches, and improves public safety through...
Contacts: Erich Peitzsch, Ph.D
Date published: April 5, 2016
Status: Active Glacier Research
As Glacier National Park’s namesake glaciers recede, CCME staff are monitoring many of the park’s glaciers to determine the causes of change, assess their ecological and hydrological effects, and predict future changes and effects. Intensive research to determine the mass balance of Sperry Glacier will determine whether small cirque glaciers like Sperry can serve as reliable indicators of...
Contacts: Erich Peitzsch, Ph.D
Date published: April 5, 2016
Status: Active Glacier Monitoring Studies
The purpose of the CCME's glacier monitoring studies is to systematically monitor changes in Glacier National Park’s namesake glaciers and to determine the causes of changes, assess their ecological and hydrological effects, and predict future changes and effects.
...
Contacts: Erich Peitzsch, Ph.D
Pre-USGS Publications
Date published: May 30, 2017
Improving avalanche hazard forecasting in a variable climate in mountain ecosystems
This article is part of the Spring 2017 issue of the Earth Science Matters Newsletter.
Attribution: Climate Research and Development Program