Avalanche forecast in 3 languages: the phrase catalog

Avalanche warnings in the Alps

The Alps are an extraordinarily complex mountain range, unique on earth. In no other mountain range of the world do so many countries and cultures meet in such a compressed area. Eight nations with five highly contrasting languages share a space which is only one third the area of Italy (surface area of the Alps: 200,000 km²). And the various avalanche warning services in this area are just as multifarious as the Alps themselves.

Depiction of warning zones of the various avalanche warning services in the European Alps on European Avalanche Warning Services website  (www.avalanches.org).

Throughout the wide-spanning arc of the Alps, more than 30 different avalanche warning services prepare and publish a regional avalanche forecast for the public. The differences are startling: some of the warning services publish descriptions of the current situation (bulletin); others prognosticate avalanche danger for the near future (forecast); some warning services publish their reports and warnings every day, others at longer intervals. The time of publication of avalanche bulletins and forecasts varies from country to country. The largest disparities, or those causing the greatest concern, are those which appear on the websites of the respective warning services: the products look completely different, present their data in different ways with different formats and depictions and frequently are available only in the language of that given country.

The products of the various avalanche warning services often have widely disparate appearances and are usually only in the language of that one country. Above left, Veneto (Italy), above right Vanoise (France)

The Euregio Avalanche Report

The intensive collaboration of the avalanche warning services of the European region Tirol-South Tirol-Trentino and the compilation and publication of a joint avalanche forecast is something brand new, never before seen in the world. The Avalanche Report spans a bridge over national borders, over different languages, presents a unified look in several languages. Both a Trentino backcountry skier in Tirol and a Tirolean snowshoe hiker in Trentino will find a familiar report whenever they consult it. All the relevant current information on avalanche dangers can be gleaned at a regular time of day in his/her own language. And so that even the British and Slovenes in South Tirol can be given assistance, the report is also presented in English.

The new Avalanche Report in Euregio South Tirol-Tirol-Trentino: in several languages and cross-border coverage.

For static websites whose contents do not change (or change only seldom), a three-language depiction can be brought about with relatively little effort. Texts are translated once and remain the same for an indeterminate period of time.

It gets complicated, however, when it is a matter of the avalanche forecast, which is our main product. This is published each and every day at 5:00 pm in all three languages simultaneously. When the situation changes, an update subsequently follows at 8:00 in the morning. In case of extraordinary situations, an update is possible at any time of day. The texts of danger description and snowpack analysis change daily. In addition, the number of avalanche-endangered regions and thus, the texts which need to be translated, vary greatly (see Blog).

Eine professionelle Übersetzung der Lawinenvorhersage in zwei weitere Sprachen wäre somit mit enormem Aufwand und nicht zuletzt finanziellen Kosten verbunden - wäre da nicht der Satzkatalog!

The phrase catalog

The phrase catalog is a fully automated translation system developed specially for avalanche forecasts by the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos.

It is based on a complex catalog of pre-defined sets of words which together build a vast variety of sentences and then are translated into all required languages. When an avalanche forecast is generated, the descriptions of avalanche danger and snowpack analysis are not written freely, but combined like a linguistic puzzle consisting of pre-defined pieces, so that it is immediately available in all three languages. The point of departure, i.e. original language, can be German, as is the case in Tirol and South Tirol, or also Italian, as is the case in South Tirol and Trentino.

Through the permutations of linguistic building blocks, vast contents stand at the ready and can be combined to describe each and every situation precisely.

The phrase catalog enables warning services to generate a translation of avalanche danger assessment and snowpack analysis into German, Italian, English and French automatically.

Since Germanic and Romance languages have quite different grammar, there are built-in limitations to automated translations. The result is generally shorter and simpler sentences which might in some cases sound unusual or repetitive. What is more important, however, is that the information is presented clearly and understandably in all the required languages.

With the help of the phrase catalog and the automated translations connected to it, the avalanche forecaster is directly and immediately present for all readers in all requisite languages in the published report.

Conclusion

The new Avalanche Report in Euregio South Tirol-Tirol-Trentino is no longer written freely by a translator, but rather, assembled automatically by a complex catalog of highly varied sentences which produce countless combinations and which at the push of a button can then appear in German, Italian and English.

Using the phrase catalog demands a big transformation of the avalanche forecasters who stand on the front line. Yet the advantage of the Avalanche Report - that up-do-date versions are always available in three languages - have higher priority.

  

This new system was made possible by the successful collaboration with our colleagues at the avalanche warning service at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos. We extend a deep vote of thanks for their cooperative assistance.