Every year, avalanches kill people and damage infrastructure. Since they often occur in remote areas, monitoring them using satellites could prove very useful. ESA Discovery has funded the German Fraunhofer Society to explore this idea further.
Discovery & Preparation funds activities to gather knowledge in all areas of space technology and research. Through these activities, it supports other ESA directorates, as well as mapping out ESA's future. For a variety of ideas and inputs, Discovery & Preparation encourages small companies and universities to participate in these activities, as a new view on old problems often triggers astonishing results.