Expert tool XGEO: cooperation between transport stakeholders, hydrological and meteorological experts in Norway

XGEO is an expert online tool used for risk assessment and preparedness, monitoring and forecasting of floods, landslides and avalanches. It is based on an open data policy, i.e., data is freely available to everyone (citizens, scientists, authorities, etc.).

The mapping tool makes use of customized profiles for different user groups, such as floods and landslides, avalanches, climate, and road and rail. XGEO shows daily maps of the snow conditions, interpolated weather observations and numerical predictions, gridded water balance and climate means and anomalies. It includes various risk indices based on inspections, grid weather and snow data, and statistical relationships.

The tool is primarily used for forecasting avalanche and landslide risks in the national alert system of Norway, which started on 14 January 2013, and provides warnings for 24 regions.

Alerts are issued by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) Forecasting Centre and communicated to road and railway authorities, to evacuate houses, as well as a range of other authorities and media outlets. Overall, cooperation of the involved actors was and will be key for the successful development of the tool and its adoption for practical use in the national alert system for landslides and avalanches.

XGEO was developed by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) in 2004, in collaboration with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, the National Public Road Administration (NPRA) and the national Rail Administration (JVB). The tool was developed under the auspices of the Climate and Transport project (2007-2010) led by NPRA.