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[music]

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The Calbuco volcano erupted in April 2015

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spewing a plume of ash and sulfur dioxide

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over ten miles into the air.

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Volcanic ash like this can cause airplane engines to fail,

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and it can persist in the atmosphere for a long time.

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It can be difficult to distinguish the volcanic plume

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from ordinary clouds,

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but NASA scientists are developing a new way

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to map the full three dimensional structure of a volcanic cloud,

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providing improved information for air traffic management.

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The concentration of sulfur dioxide,

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is mapped by the Suomi NPP satellite as it passes overhead,

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and then looks back and also measures the vertical profile

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of the cloud in three separate slices.

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The location and height of the particles,

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as well as the amount of sulfur dioxide,

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is being integrated into models of weather patterns

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to forecast the spread of the volcanic cloud.

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The high resolution of the data from the vertical profiles

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allows a more accurate forecast in the days, weeks, and months after an eruption,

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which could reduce airline cancellations and re-routing costs.

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The final product will be available in near-real time

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for use by operational agencies making decisions about flight safety.

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[beeping]

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