Tracking Volcanic Ash with Satellites 

When a volcano erupts, it can wreak havoc in the air and on land. The expanding plume of ash that rises into the atmosphere is a danger to aircraft and can damage engines, causing them to fail midflight. To help improve the flow of air traffic, NASA scientists are using data collected by the Earth-observing Suomi NPP satellite to map the full three-dimensional structure of volcanic clouds. By measuring the location and height of particles within the cloud, as well as the amount of sulfur dioxide gas in the air, scientists can create improved models of weather patterns, allowing a more accurate forecast of where the hazardous ash is spreading—information air traffic managers can use to reroute flights and keep passengers out of harm’s way. 

This visualization, created using results from the GEOS-5 supercomping model, reveals volcanic ash (white) and sulfur dioxide (yellow/red) spreading from an eruption of the Calbuco volcano in April 2015. The model combines the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere with data from the Suomi NPP satellite. 


For more information, visit: 
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12221 

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