ARPAV - ARABBA AVALANCHE CENTRE

	The study and planning of mountain territory
	Cartography and planning of the territory
	Wheather forecast and avalanche bulletin
	Hydraulic and forest planning and the environment

The study and planning of mountain territory

The "Centro Sperimentale Valanghe e Difesa Idrogeologica" (Avalanches and Hydrogeological Defence Experimental Centre) of Arabba is a structure of the Veneto Regional Council, and is under the authority of the Department for Forests and the Mountain Economy.
The Regional Council, through Regional Laws among other things, has endowed the Centre with specific institutional responsibility (for active intervention as wed as study and research) in the area of problems connected with mountain territory.
In broad outline, the area of work consists of the preservation of the mountain soil and environment; the preservation of the soil implies hydrogeological defense, which brings together the investigations and precautions taken in the field of Alpine meteorology, snow and avalanches, and the active interventions in the fight against erosion and the degradation of the soil. The regular publication of the Avalanche Bulletin is the most obvious result of the Centre's study of the snow, but this area of work also involves the study and planning of mountain territory with the aim of identifying situations of particular hazard and actively averting them.
Particular attention is paid to the environmental problems connected with the conditions of the Veneto forests, as regards plant health.

Cartography and planning of the territory

For the planning of mountain territory, it is of extreme importance to know where avalanches have occurred and where they could occur.
The Experimental Centre elaborates maps of avalanche and avalanche-risk areas; these maps report phenomena that are historically documented by in loco investigations, or that have been located by aerial photographs. To date (1995) 4/5 of the region's mountain territory has been documented, and the cartographical survey is expected to be completed within five years.
The avalanche-maps are not, and necessarily cannot be, casual use of tourists, since almost all the snow-covered slopes that is, those used for skiing, are potentially dangerous in certain conditions. The aim is that of identifying all the locations of socio-economic interest, with the further aim of designing and creating the most suitable schemes for these places from the point of view of both protection and respect for the environment.

Wheather forecast and avalanche bulletin

The Center puts out a regular weather and avalanche bulletin, transmitted via recorded telephone-messages, fax, internet, and some local radio and television networks. The Bulletin is intended for ad those who use the mountains, from simple tourists to those responsible for taking people around the mountains (alpine guides, ski-teachers etc.). Such bodies as the Prefectures, Alpine Rescue, and the Fire-Brigade make use of the information provided by the bulletins in the line of their duties in Rescue and Civil Protection.
The job of forecasting the weather and avalanches is carried out on the basis of maps and information provided by the European Meteorological Centers and the images sent directly from the Meteosat Satellite, which define the general context; within this context the data and information gathered locally by the Centre's survey system, which draws on a network of automatic and traditional stations, take on a wider significance. Every thirty minutes the automatic stations radio-transmit news regarding the snow, the temperature of the air, and the wind, while the traditional stations carry out weekly cheks and experiments on the internal characteristics of the snow.
The forecast of avalanches does not only concern single sites, but is general, and aims to identify the kind of location at risk, according to altitude and type of exposure.

Hydraulic and forest planning and the environment

The delicate environmental balance of the mountain calls for well-pondered and timely solutions, and these can only come from perfect knowledge of the territory, of all the possible intervention techniques, and of the modern "soft" technologies.
The various polluting substances are conveyed principally by water - both overground and underground - and by the atmosphere. These "vectors" are monitored by the Centre, which thus registers any variation in the degree of concentration of substances that are harmful to the ecosystem.
By combining these data with meteorological data, it is possible to verify just how effective particular preventive measures are proving.
Wherever possible, bio-engineering schemes are adopted, based on the use of "living" material, or at least natural material, such as wood. If the measures taken need to be more incisive, and it is thus not possible to make use of biodegradable materials, ad the techniques and expedients that might lessen the overall impact on the environment are nonetheless carefully considered.

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ARPAV - CENTRO VALANGHE DI ARABBA
32020 ARABBA (BL) Via Pradat , 5
Telefono: ++39 436-755711 Fax: ++39 436-79319/79218
bollettino meteo: 1678-60345-6 sistema self-fax: 0436-79221
Email: cva@arpa.veneto.it