Gear of the (future) Week | AvyScanner

So a smartphone-like device that analyzes the snow cover at the touch of a button. A search for clues as to what's behind it is best started with their promotional video:

https://vimeo.com/360850402

Gordon Pratt: "As I worked through the field aspects of my Level-2 avalanche certification a few years ago, I kept thinking there had to be a better way to characterize the stratigraphy and stability of the snowpack that was quicker and less subjective than snow pits and the hand hardness test."

Nikki Rota: "We started discussing technology and why on Earth wasn't there a faster and more reliable way to assess avalanche risk. Digging a snow pit is not only a ton of work but also highly subjective."

It is strange that the two founders describe snow profiles as subjective. The technical mind behind the startup is Dr. Rockee Zhang: "I have been working on crazy ideas and developments for new radars for decades." On his institute's homepage, for example, you can find the MURON:

"MURON (Micro Unmanned Robot Observation Network) is a network of intelligent, autonomous, and reliable unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) for atmosphere observations over ocean being developed, and supported by Weathernews. Currently being deployed to multiple ocean sites."

Such an ambitious goal for a device that is still in development? So far there are no pictures of a finished device - neither in the promotional video, nor in the picture of their Insta-post with hashtag #ispo2020 (LINK https://www.instagram.com/p/B7zDiJkH2IY). I'm skeptical that the AvyScanner will come at all - and all the excitement sounds like a search for investors.

Nonetheless, I can imagine that radar technology can provide the right "clues" for risk assessment in certain snow cover situations. As an example, I will cite the current bulletin from western Switzerland: "Fresh snow and sometimes also loose old snow are being intensively transported by the often stormy wind. [...] The old snow forms an extremely poor base for the new and drifting snow. In wind-exposed areas and on sunny slopes, the snow surface is often rough and hard. There, the connection to the new and drift snow is more favorable." Accordingly, it is sufficient if the AvyScanner can say something about the old snow cover - i.e. built up and loose, or influenced by wind or sun. But I don't want or need it, I'd rather think about it in the field than be guided by artificial neural networks. And for it to work with the legal manufacturer responsibility in the USA, the device must actually always say "Stop - Dangerous" to the delight of those who are on the road without it ...