DOCUMENTATION ON NATURAL DISASTERS/HAZARDOUS EVENTS – FIELD INSTRUCTIONS

Abstract

The inhabitants of Alpine regions are constantly confronted with natural risks and their consequences. Damage caused by natural disasters can be alleviated and even prevented with appropriate protection. Adequate documentation about past natural disasters is a highly important basis of information for analysis and precaution. Suitable field instructions are needed for the preparation of documentation, as basic material for specialistic techical education, but also available as an independent manual for further education. The field instructions present the most important natural processes in words and pictures, such as high waters, eruption of torrents, debris flows, rock falls and avalanches. The instructions do not describe natural processes precisely but, on the basis of many different practical examples, highlight what we must be attentive to when describing the characteristics of a process.