Road protection against snow avalanches is an important mission that road maintenance services must achieve permanently in winter.

Cesigma’s experience in signal processing and acoustic systems led to develop a snow avalanche detection system SnowScanâ. This system allows to secure road sections in snow avalanche corridors.

SnowScanâ system analyses in real time earth surface waves induced by snow avalanche and snow motion. When the system detects the start of a snow avalanche, it closes the road section by activating traffic lights or by closing gates. It analyses information transmitted by its sensors during a safety period. Then it opens the raod section again if there is no more danger. In the opposite, the road is definitively closed and authorities are automatically warned.

SnowScanâ system allows to protect road sections in snow avalanche corridor. Like StoneScanâ system, it uses acoustic-seismic sensors (µSnow ®) and/or Doppler radars (RadSnowâ) which detect earth surface waves and snow avalanche motion. Signals and calibration are quite different from rock fall detection but algorithms are still available.

SnowScanâ system can detect heavy and powder snow avalanches. Each sensor integrates a signal processing system which detects snow avalanche signatures and rejects the other noises and traffic, lighting strikes, ..., signatures. Sensor transmits numerical data to the control unit by high rate radio and optical fiber data link.

The control unit manages traffic lights and authority warning according to information and data transmitted by sensors which are placed over all the snow avalanche corridor.

Signal processing onboard performs a high detection rate and a high false alarm rejection by using optimized algorithms and massive real time calculation. Cesigma has developed a high speed multi-processor board designed for real time signal processing applications (Lagoonâ boards).