Landscape Changes in the Kitchener Avalanche Path, Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park After the Record‐Breaking July 2022 Storm

David Y. Sheppard; Aubrey D. Miller; Pascal Sirguey; Simon C. Cox

doi:10.1002/jgo2.70041

Landscape Changes in the Kitchener Avalanche Path, Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park After the Record‐Breaking July 2022 Storm

David Y. Sheppard, Aubrey D. Miller, Pascal Sirguey Simon C. Cox

New Zealand journal of geology and geophysics, Vol.69(1), e70041

15/02/2026

: https://doi.org/10.1002/jgo2.70041

https://hdl.handle.net/10523/49795

derived digital elevation models

erosion

extreme rain

landscape change

lidar

mitigation structure

natural hazard

snow avalanche

surveying

Three‐dimensional landscape changes were investigated in the Kitchener Avalanche Path, Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand, after an extreme storm in July 2022. The Path features an earthen diversion berm constructed in 2018 to mitigate the risk of avalanches to the adjacent Aoraki/Mount Cook Village. The berm performed as designed during a significant snow avalanche and related record‐breaking winter rain event in 2022. However, damage to a section of the berm was observed from rain runoff during the storm. This study quantifies the impact of the storm on the Kitchener path runout zone, including the berm. Surveys conducted over five epochs (2008, 2018 a , 2018 b , 2022, and 2023) highlight the topographic changes from preconstruction through post‐storm conditions. Using the derived digital elevation models, volume changes were estimated based on 2D cross‐profiles and 3D DEM‐differencing. Although significant erosion in the lower section of the berm was observed (–759 ± 58 m 3 ), minimal erosion along the inside face of the berm from avalanche impact was detected. Observed changes provide insights into the dynamic landscape, signalling that rain‐induced erosion has significant impacts on engineered earthen protection structures. The future performance of the berm may require increasingly frequent repairs from extreme rain events causing further erosion.

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New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics - 2026 - Sheppard - Landscape Changes in the Kitchener Avalanche Path Aoraki7.59 MB

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https://doi.org/10.1002/jgo2.70041

Published (Version of record),

Kitchener Avalanche Path landscape change data

: 9926847216401891
: Landscape Changes in the Kitchener Avalanche Path, Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park After the Record‐Breaking July 2022 Storm
: David Y. Sheppard
Aubrey D. Miller
Pascal Sirguey
Simon C. Cox
: New Zealand journal of geology and geophysics, Vol.69(1), e70041
: School of Surveying
: Wiley
: Quantifying environmental resources through high-resolution, automated, satellite mapping of landscape change, UOOX1914, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (New Zealand, Wellington) - MBIE
: Toitū te Whenua, Land Information New Zealand 2024 Tertiary GIS Scholarship; ORG-0118-0319 - 'Glaciers in the picture' / University of Otago research grant; GNS-DCF00043 - 'Topographic mapping of Franz Josef glacier' / GNS
: 15/02/2026
: Copyright © The Author(s) 2026. This work was first published in New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics (Wiley). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons‐Attribution‐NonCommercial License 4.0 International (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial use, reproduction, adaptation and distribution of the work in any medium provided the original work is properly attributed to the creator(s) and the source, a link to the Creative Commons license is provided, and any changes made are indicated.
: English
: Journal article