STAR's Data Products Used to Monitor Icelandic Volcanic Ash Clouds
Ash plume from Eyjafjallajokull Volcano, Iceland
17 April 2010 (NASA)
Volcanic Ash over Northern Europe, 16 April 2010
The linked animation shows the ash cloud as it moves
from north to central Europe on April 16, 2010.
Image produced by CIMSS using SEVIRI data
6 Day Time Lapse of Volcanic Ash Product Images
Iceland Volcanic Plume - April 19, 2010
NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory
19 April 2010 - As illustrated by the billion dollar
air travel shutdown over Northern Europe caused by Eyjafjallajokull's
ongoing eruption, volcanic ash clouds severely impact aviation. In support of NOAA's
mission goal to provide accurate, timely, and integrated weather
information to meet air and surface transportation needs, STAR
scientists have been studying volcanic ash clouds and developing
satellite based ash products for over 15 years. Most recently,
NOAA/NESDIS/STAR scientists, in collaboration with the Cooperative Institute for
Meteorological Studies (CIMSS), have developed satellite products
aimed at automatically detecting volcanic ash clouds and determining
their height and micro-physical properties. The STAR volcanic ash
algorithm is unique in that it is fully automated and provides
information on ash cloud height. Physical properties, such as ash cloud
height and microphysics, are critical for forecasting the dispersion
of ash clouds.
Volcanic ash products developed for the next generation of Geostationary
Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) can be generated using measurements
from EUMETSAT's (the European Organization for the Exploitation of
Meteorological Satellites) Spinning Enhanced Visible/Infrared Imager (SEVIRI)
and NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), both of which
provide coverage of the Eyjafjallajokull ash clouds. Throughout the ongoing
eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, STAR has used SEVIRI and MODIS to generate
volcanic ash products.
STAR's Contribution
to our Understanding of this Event:
The volcanic ash products recently developed by
NOAA/NESDIS/STAR are not yet operationally available, but official efforts are
underway to transition these capabilities to NESDIS operations. In the
meantime, these results are being shared with the international volcanic ash
research and user community through a discussion forum. In addition, these
results will be used in post-event studies aimed at assessing the accuracy of
dispersion model forecasts and remote sensing techniques.
CIMSS produced a SEVIRI (EUMETSAT's geostationary satellite imaging instrument)
animation of the ash cloud as it moved through northern and central Europe on
April 16. (see image and animation at right).
Thanks to Mike Pavolonis at ASPB / CIMSS
 The animation above and the explanation of STAR's work with volcanic
ash products both come from Mike Pavolonis, a physical scientist with STAR
at the Advanced Satellite Products Branch (ASPB), collocated with the CIMSS in Madison, WI.
Mike was also interviewed for NPR's recent story: "Tracking
Volcano Ash To Improve Flight Safety" (22 April 2010).
STAR thanks Mike for his assistance with this story.
See More Volcano Imagery from CIMSS:
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