Our Mission
The primary purpose of the European Avalanche Warning Services (EAWS) is to support its members in preventing loss of life and damage due to avalanches by providing society with efficient and effective avalanche forecasting and warning services.
Objectives
- Developing standards, best practice guidelines and recommendations for avalanche warning services
- Exchanging expertise and promoting staff training
- Fostering cooperation between neighbouring services and promoting collaboration between Members
- Enhancing communication and awareness about the avalanche danger to all the categories of users through avalanche bulletins, new forecasting products and common standards and terminology
- Liaising with other relevant organisations and engaging in strategic relationships and alliances with those that share the objectives of the EAWS
- Ensuring that all programs, services, and materials are based on current research and scientific evidence
Standards
See all Standards
Our standards are described in the Memorandum of Understanding and under STANDARDS at avalanches.org.
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
See full MOU
EAWS commits to liaising with reliability and honesty and to establishing a knowledge-based consortium. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) describes the objectives agreed by the members and the terms and conditions under which they will cooperate to achieve these objectives.
Milestones
EAWS Milestones
2022, JUNE
Definitions and Workflow for Avalanche Danger Level Assessment
2019, June
New web page for EAWS:
https://avalanches.org
2017, June
2017, June
Further development of the
EAWS matrix
2017, June
Renaming of Avalanche Sizes
2015, June
Introduction of the
Avalanche Problems
2009, June
Introduction of the Information Pyramid
2004, April
Introduction of the Glossary
2003, May
Introduction of the Bavarian Matrix (now EAWS Matrix)
1993, April
Introduction of the
Avalanche Danger Scale
1983, October
Foundation of the working group of European Avalanche Warning Services in Munich
© Ragnar Ekker
Members
EAWS Members
Organization
EAWS Organization
Chair Person
Christine Pielmeier
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Switzerland
Chair Person
Arnold Studeregger
Avalanche Warning Service Styria, Austria
Coordinator
Thomas Feistl
Avalanche Warning Service Bavaria, Germany
TAB – Technical Advisory Board
Emma J. Barfod
WG 3 leader, NVE, Norway
Igor Chiambretti
AINEVA, Italy
Anne Dufour
Meteo France, France
Mark Diggins
WG 5 leader, SAIS, United Kingdom
Thomas Feistl
Avalanche Warning Service Bavaria, Germany
Norbert Lanzanasto
WG 4 leader, Avalanche Warning Service Tirol, Austria
Christoph Mitterer
WG2 leader, Avalanche Warning Service Tirol, Austria
Christine Pielmeier
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Switzerland
Arnold Studeregger
Avalanche Warning Service Styria, Austria
Benjamin Zweifel
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Switzerland
Membership Committee
Jürg Schweizer
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Switzerland
Rudi Mair
Avalanche Warning Service Tirol, Austria
Gloria Marti
ICGC, Spain
Aleš Poredoš
ARSO, Slovenia
Vincenzo Romeo
Meteomont Carabinieri, Italy
Working Group 1
EAWS Matrix & Danger Scale
In order to foster common understanding, routines and workflows in avalanche forecasting we will try to achieve the following goals: (1) Define and classify the key terms snowpack stability, spatial distribution of snowpack stability and avalanche size. (2) Relate these three terms to other terms currently in use. (3) Assign an avalanche danger level to each combination of the three terms above.
Karsten Müller
WG1 leader, NVE, Norway
Lorenzo Betranda
Meteomont Carabinieri, Italy
Guillem Bellido Martin
SMA-OECC, Andorra
Christoph Mitterer
WG2 leader, Avalanche Warning Service Tirol, Austria
Petter Palmgren
Swedish EPA, Sweden
Nicolas Roux
Meteo France, France
Stefano Sofia
AINEVA, Italy
Frank Techel
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Switzerland
Giacomo Villa
Alpsolut, Italy
Working Group 2
Funding and Organisation
The main goal of this working group is to review possibilities for funding within the EAWS. In addition, we will do a review on how other similar organisations established managing personnel.
Christoph Mitterer
WG2 leader, Avalanche Warning Service Tirol, Austria
Martin Besinsky
SLP+HZS, Slovakia
Vincenzo Romeo
Meteomont Carabinieri, Italy
Jürg Schweizer
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Switzerland
Valerio Segor
AINEVA, Italy
Arnold Studeregger
Avalanche Warning Service Styria, Austria
Massimo Umberto Daves
Meteomont Army, Italy
Mia Yri
Swedish EPA, Sweden
Working Group 3
Accidents
The goal of this working group is to make sure that fatality details and statistics are up-to-date and correct, improve the way of presenting them and harmonize the documentation of avalanche accidents accross Europe to allow better statistical analysis.
Emma J. Barfod
WG 3 leader, NVE, Norway
Anne Dufour
Meteo France, France
Norbert Lanzanasto
WG 4 leader, Avalanche Warning Service Tirol, Austria
Benjamin Zweifel
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Switzerland
Working Group 4
Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)
The goals of the working group are to evaluate current situation, define target the group for CAP, evaluate and expand definitions in CAP for avalanches, create a workflow for the output of CAP levels and associated texts and standardise the use of CAP within the members of EAWS.
Norbert Lanzanasto
WG 4 leader, Avalanche Warning Service Tirol, Austria
Michael Butschek
Avalanche Warning Service Salzburg, Austria
Paola Dellavedova
AINEVA, Italy
Anne Dufour
Meteo France, France
Rune V. Engeset
Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, Norway
Matthias Gerber
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Switzerland
Sarah Graf
AINEVA, Italy
Monia Moretti
Meteomont Carabinieri, Italy
Aleš Poredoš
ARSO, Slovenia
Working Group 5
Risk Communication
The main goals of this working group is to consider the best methods of providing effective risk communication and consistent messaging within the EAWS. The working groups tasks are threefold; to review current research studies on risk communication; engage with human behavioural experts and psychologists and develop appropriate communication guidelines in order to ensure consistent communication methods and products.
Mark Diggins
WG 5 leader, SAIS, United Kingdom
Jordi Gavalda Bordes
Conselh Generau Aran (CGA), Spain
Giovanna Burelli
AINEVA Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy
Massimo Daves
Meteomont Army, Italy
Chiara De Lucia
Meteomont Carabinieri, Italy
Philip Ebert
University of Stirling, United Kingdom
Christoph Hummel
Avalanche Warning Service Bavaria, Germany
Fabiano Monti
ALPsolut, Italy
Carles Garcia Sèlles
Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya (ICGC), Spain
Mattias Tarestad
Swedish Avalanche Warning Service, Swedish EPA, Sweden