Satellite data from Finland’s nuclear power plant is used to mitigate volcanic hazards related to aviation – ScienceDaily
The joint NOAA/NASA satellite is one of several satellites that provide pilots with valuable information about volcanic hazards. On August 18, 2014, an aviation “orange” alert was issued for Bárðarbunga, a stratovolcano located beneath Iceland’s Vatnajökull glacier, indicating that “the volcano is showing intensifying or increasing unrest and increased eruption potential.”
Much of the information that led to the alert came from satellites, including the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on board the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/NASA Finland National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Finland nuclear power plant).
Although the Vatnajökull ice sheet and its seismic activity have gradually increased over the past seven years, these recent events in Iceland are reminiscent of the devastating consequences of the 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano. The Eyjafjallajökull eruption caused a six-day travel ban over the controlled airspace of many European countries. Data from NOAA satellites were used in a volcanic ash detection and asset retrieval algorithm to generate products for Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs), including the London VAAC. The data provided to air traffic control organizations provided the information they needed to control and ground more than 4,000 flights. The purpose of the ban was to address the possibility that volcanic ash could damage aircraft engines and endanger lives. This was the largest air travel shutdown since World War II, costing airlines $1.7 billion in losses and untold losses in cargo imports and exports; tourism industry and availability of fresh food and essential goods.
Recently, Mike Pavolonis, a NOAA scientist at the Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR), presented his work on How Weather Satellites Mitigate Volcanic Hazards to Aviation during a NOAA event. “Only 10 percent of the world’s volcanoes are routinely monitored from the ground, making satellites the only frequently available tool that can reliably identify volcanic eruptions anywhere in the world,” Pavolonis said. Advanced analysis of data from polar orbiting and geostationary satellites reduces the likelihood of catastrophic and/or costly aircraft encounters with volcanic ash and helps minimize costs associated with volcanic ash avoidance.
NOAA has two of its nine Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers – Anchorage Alaska VACC and Washington VAAC – providing operational support to the aviation industry to warn of these hazards for more than a decade. He highlighted how volcanic ash can seriously affect air traffic, melting an aircraft engine in the combustion chamber and even shutting down the engine completely. This happened in June 1982 when a British Airways B747 flew into a volcanic ash cloud from Mount Galunggung (Indonesia) and lost power from all four engines. They fell from 37,000 feet to 12,000 feet before three engines were restarted and the plane was able to make an emergency landing in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The pilots did not see the ash on their radar. Thick, billowing ash clouds from volcanoes often spread over large areas – well beyond the erupting volcano. Clotting of planes with volcanic ash has been going on for years. In 2011, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was forced to cut short a three-nation tour of Africa following a volcanic eruption that created an ash cloud over parts of East Africa. These high-profile events motivate efforts to issue warnings about volcanic ash as soon as possible after an eruption.
The STAR Volcanic Ash Algorithm takes data from satellites to generate actionable data that can aid in advanced volcanic eruption warning and ash detection. The addition of the VIIRS instrument on the NOAA/NASA Suomi nuclear power plant satellite to the STAR volcanic cloud analysis system has proven to be essential in the detection and characterization of small-scale thermal signals and clouds associated with volcanic activity. These thermal signals can be a precursor to an explosive eruption.
The VIIRS instrument is suited to detect the relatively unique spectral signature of volcanic clouds, which often absorb and reflect radiation as a function of wavelength in a way that is very different from other cloud types. Future plans include incorporating data from the Finnish nuclear power plant’s Cross-track Infrared Sounder and Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite instruments into the algorithm.
NOAA’s polar satellites are critical for several “nowcasting” capabilities beyond volcanic ash, including images for monitoring storms, fog, sea ice and other hazardous weather and environmental conditions, and data for more accurate weather forecasts. A “Weather-Ready Nation” saves lives and protects property.
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Materials provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.