1 / 20

Volcanic Ash Hazards to Aviation

Volcanic Ash Hazards to Aviation. Jeff Osiensky NWS National Volcanic Ash Program Manager Alaska Regional Aviation Meteorologist.

creda
Download Presentation

Volcanic Ash Hazards to Aviation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Volcanic Ash Hazards to Aviation Jeff Osiensky NWS National Volcanic Ash Program Manager Alaska Regional Aviation Meteorologist Southwest Aviation Weather Safety (SAWS) III Phoenix, Arizona April 22, 2010

  2. Outline • Introduction to the ash hazard • Examples of eruptions • Potential damage/impacts • Why be concerned in the Southwest? Yellowstone and Long Valley Caldera! • Volcanic ash resources • Summary

  3. What is volcanic ash? • small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions Ash from Mt. St. Helens eruption May 18, 1980

  4. Why is it a hazard to aviation? • Abrasive (can severely scratch airframe and windscreen) • clogs intakes and filter • restricts visibility • foul odor (in the presence of SO2) • glass will melt at high temps then solidify causing jet engine flameout

  5. Recent major encounter

  6. Air Routes

  7. Examples of eruption • Fourpeaked Volcano, Alaska • Last erupted 10,000 years ago • Unexpected eruption on Sept. 17, 2006

  8. Chaiten Volcano • Southern Chile May 2008 • Erupted unexpectedly after 9000+ years of dormancy

  9. Long Valley Caldera • Caldera formed ~730k yrs ago • Many eruptions since • Most recent eruptions along • Mono and Inyo chain (last • ~550 years ago)

  10. Impacts beyond imagination…

  11. Super Volcanoes Long Valley and Yellowstone Super Volcanoes: ash production could cover 1/3 to 1/2 of U.S. or more

  12. Who Does What… • Volcano Observatories • Provide information on the volcano itself (e.g. seismicity, behavior, etc.) • VAAC (Washington) • Run dispersion models, issue VAAs • MWO (AWC Kansas City) • Issue SIGMETs • CWSU/ARTCC • Issue CWAs and MISs, provide advice to ATMs

  13. Modeling

  14. Web Resources • NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (HYSPLIT) http://ready.arl.noaa.gov/ready2-bin/ashhypo.pl • Aviation Weather Center (SIGMETs) http://aviationweather.gov/ • Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/washington.html • OFCM National Volcanic Ash Plan http://www.ofcm.gov/p35-nvaopa/pdf/FCM-P35-2007-NVAOPA.pdf • USGS Volcanoes Hazard Program http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/

  15. Summary • Volcanic ash is a well documented hazard to aviation • Although historically active volcanic sources are thousands of miles away from the Southwest U.S….a Long Valley Caldera or Yellowstone event is a possibility • It is important to consider all weather and environmental risks that impact the aviation community

  16. ? ? Sarychev Peak June 2009

  17. Thank You Jeff Osiensky National Weather Service Alaska Region Headquarters Anchorage, Alaska jeffrey.osiensky@noaa.gov 907.271.5132

More Related