An ArcGIS Geo-Morphological Approach for Snow Avalanche Zoning and Risk Estimation in the Province of Bergamo

This paper describes the results of a study developed, with a GIS approach, at the University of Bergamo, about snow avalanche zoning and risk assessment in the Province of Bergamo. The adoption of a simplified estimation model, presented here, nonetheless allowed to achieve results in good accordance with those provided by previous, more rigorous studies at the Province of Bergamo. A following analysis has also been performed to estimate ski lifts, urban areas, power lines, highways, rail-roads and roads at possible risk. This is a work in progress, since further develop-ment has already been taken into account to enrich the risk model with more param-eters describing land morphology and meteorology. These results will then be used to simulate accidents and to estimate the shortest routes for rescuers. Finally, the devel-opment of a geo-app for mobile devices could become a very useful and fast tool for avalanche risk areas information.