Abstract
<p><em>The European Space Agency project </em>Satellite Monitoring of Ash and Sulphur Dioxide for the mitigation of Aviation Hazards<em>, was introduced after the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull in the spring of 2010 to facilitate the development of an optimal End-to-End System for Volcanic Ash Plume Monitoring and Prediction. The Eyjafjallajökull plume drifted towards Europe and caused major disruptions of European air traffic for several weeks affecting the everyday life of millions of people. The limitations in the volcanic plume monitoring and prediction capabilities gave birth to this observational system which is based on comprehensive satellite-derived ash plume and sulphur dioxide [SO<sub>2</sub>] level estimates, as well as a widespread validation using supplementary satellite, aircraft and ground-based measurements. </em><em>The validation of volcanic total column SO<sub>2</sub> measured by GOME-2/MetopA and IASI/MetopA are shown before, during and after the Eyjafjallajökull 2010 eruptions as well as for the 2011 Grimsvötn eruption. Co-located ground-based Brewer Spectrophotometer data extracted from the World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre are also compared to the different satellite estimates</em></p>
Highlights
INTRODUCTIONAsh and Sulphur Dioxide, SO2, for the mitigation of Aviation Hazards, SACS 2/SMASH, project is the development, impro vement and validation of satelitederived ash & SO2 products
The main objective of the European Spa ce Agency [ESA] Satellite Monitoring ofAsh and Sulphur Dioxide, SO2, for the mitigation of Aviation Hazards, SACS 2/SMASH, project is the development, impro vement and validation of satelitederived ash & SO2 products
This system is based on im proved and dedicated satellitederived ash plume and sulphur dioxide level assessments following the Support to Aviation Control Ser vice (SACS, http://sacs.aeronomie.be), which is a free online service initiated by ESA for the nearrealtime satellite monitoring of volcanic plumes of SO2 and ash [Brenot et al, 2014]
Summary
Ash and Sulphur Dioxide, SO2, for the mitigation of Aviation Hazards, SACS 2/SMASH, project is the development, impro vement and validation of satelitederived ash & SO2 products. SO2 OBSERVATIONS AND METHODOLOGIES oped by the Atmospheric Spectroscopy group of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, hereafter ULB, and one developed by the Earth Observa tion Data Group at the University of Oxford, hereafter Oxford. Both products use similar al gorithms for the detection [Clarisse et al, 2014] and retrieval of total columns [Carboni et al, 2012] the Oxford algorithm retrieves the SO2 plume height simultaneously with the SO2 column amount, which has the advantage of yielding realistic error estimates. The ULB algorithm retrieves the height prior to the col umn and has the added benefit of not relying on any apriori information
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
