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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.
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| Depiction of warning zones of the various avalanche warning services in the European Alps on European Avalanche Warning Services website (www.avalanches.org). |
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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.
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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) |
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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.
 |
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Normal 21 false DE-AT The new Avalanche Report in Euregio South |
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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!
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catalog is a fully automated translation system developed specially for
avalanche forecasts by the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in
Davos.
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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.
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Through the
permutations of linguistic building blocks, vast contents stand at the ready and can be combined to describe each and every situation precisely. |
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The phrase
catalog enables warning services to generate a translation of avalanche danger assessment and snowpack analysis into German, Italian, English and French automatically. |
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.