The relationship between the intensity of snow acoustic emission impulses and snow-cover stability is revealed by measuring the physical and mechanical properties of the snow cover in the starting zones of avalanches. This relationship is fundamental to the remote identification of an avalanche-hazard period.

In order to estimate the mechanical properties of a snow layer, a method of applying a rigid penetrometer equipped with a piezoelectric accelerometer is used. The viscosity coefficients of snow under destruction and the specific energy of destruction are determined. The overall effect of the different elements of destruction is assessed using both structural investigations and acoustic methods (acoustic emissions).