The Railway Technical Research Institute has developed a snow avalanche alarm system that its engineers say could help local authorities and ski-resort operators better cope with the avalanche threat.
The institute, the research arm of the Japan Railways group, says it plans to commercialize the system beginning fiscal 2001.
RTRI officials said engineers also hope to apply the snow avalanche alarm system, in development since 1997, for the detection of landslides.
The system involves installing tremor-sensitive poles made of reinforced plastic fiber on the slopes of a mountain. When snow hits the poles, internal sensors transmit signals to a nearby signal transformer, which in turn sends warning signals.
Depending on the strength of the avalanche, the system would deliver four levels of warning, which could be relayed through mobile phones or the Internet.
RTRI officials said the sensor poles are extremely durable and the signal transformers will require a minimal amount of electricity, operating on batteries or solar-energy cells for an entire winter.
Final testing of the system is expected to take place this winter in Niigata Prefecture.