Before the first important snowfalls in Arantec we had the opportunity to review and fine-tune Smarty Planet Nivo-Meteorological stations, especially in relation to one of the most important aspects of our work in winter, such as minimizing the risk of avalanches .
We speak with Iban González Abadias “Ibantxo” for friends. Geologist and half mountain guide. Great lover of the mountain, skiing and writer of the two volumes of the book Free Ski Ed. Nive. Iban, is a local predictor of avalanches in Somport and is part of the Arantec team.
Q- What work do you do before the start of the winter season?
A- The first thing that is done is at a geographical level, it is a cartography of the area, where all the potentially dangerous zones are identified and then based on the meteorological information that we have and our field work we issue hazard bulletins for specific areas . In our case there are 10 channels that can cause some kind of problem on the roads.
Q- How is the daily work done?
A- When there is stability at both the meteorological and snow levels, we issue follow-up bulletins and when the forecasts begin to indicate snowfalls, it is when we really activate. We issue a news bulletin of situation, we perform daily field work with outputs to check the state of the snow, if it snows with a lot of wind, if there are accumulations in some area, how the different layers cohere together, we make measurements, tests of stability, profiles, to identify the situation. Subsequently, the final communiqué is issued.
Q- With what purpose do you do all this work?
A- Our main objective is to guarantee the safety of the winter road. As an anecdote I will tell you that one of the phrases that I have heard the most for years in reference to our sector is the following: “The easy thing is to cut a road. The difficult thing is to open it again. “And it is perfectly understood, since there are those who, after a few minutes of making a cut warning of avalanche danger on the road, would reopen it once the situation is controlled. On the other hand, some people prefer to be more cautious and wait longer. By the way, in our case the closure and reopening of the road depends in each case on the Ministry of Development and the DGA (Diputación General de Aragón).
Q- What technology do you have to carry out your work?
R-Claro, when we started to follow the meteorological situation, our only reference is the meteo stations of Smarty Planet for example, which are the ones that mark us the different parameters. With them we make our mental scheme that we then verify in the field, to elaborate the hazard bulletin on roads with vehicle traffic to minimize any risk to the population.
Q- Where are you located in winter?
R-On Somport road, and this year I will also take along with my partner Albert Piqué the Panticosa Spa road and access to Llanos del Hospital (Benasque).
Winter in Smarty Planet
In Arantec, during the last weeks, prior to the beginning of the winter season, we have carried out different work on set-up and maintenance of our Nivo-meteorological stations, in addition to other actions.
The recent installation of a traction sensor on 60T avalanche structures in the Col du Peyresourde (France).
The maintenance, improvement and tuning of the automatic Nivo-Meteorological station installed by Arantec in Panticosa. The remote web-cam of the station also allows to have a system for the control and monitoring of possible avalanches. Also carrying out the adjustment of the rain gauge and the installation of a new snow depth meter.
Our participation in the Pyrenean Symposium on Snow and Avalanches of the V Jornades Tècniques de Neu i Allaus in Ordino – Andorra. As well as last October the second consecutive participation of Arantec in Meteorological Technology World Expo 2017 of Amsterdam – The Netherlands, the largest event in the world on meteorology where the leading technologies of the sector are exhibited, which served to present our solutions and also to catch up on what is “cooked” at the international level.
Finally, we would like to remind you that we provide the Smartyplanet Web Software, which is the spearhead of Smarty solutions for the visualization, comprehension and control of registered data in real time, whose data can be consulted from any device with Internet connection.
The daily work of the engineers, programmers and designers in Arantec, allows us to advance and improve in our Smarty solutions and in our specific products for different sectors, of which you will find all the information in the following link http: //www.smartyplanet. com / category-product / smarty-meteo /
