Extent of Eyjafjallajökull Eruption Ash Plume and Effect on European Air travel
By: Cyrus Bina GEO 327G 12/3/2010
Introduction
On April 14th, 2010 the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, entered a stage of eruption which sent incredible amounts ash up to 30,000 feet in the air (the typical cruising altitude of commercial jets). Across Europe and around the world, air travel was disrupted as the ash cloud made its way across the continent. The importance of learning the behavior of the airborne ash has become evident in the disastrous effect of the ash.
Purpose:
In or der to characterize the behavior of the airborne ash, it is nessecary to find the area
of the ash plume each day during the eruption and after. Comparing these daily measurements
may give insight to the way ash plumes expand and travel. Using flight path data and the
digitized ash plumes, it will be possible to determine what flight paths were directly affected by
the plume. To help answer these questions, satellite imagery of the plume above Iceland and
northern Europe will be taken from the MODIS rapid response system gallery and
georeferenced so a polygon may be digitized from its outline.
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and specified
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afjallajokull
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feature class
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of the prope
elow.
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s was create
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e field: “type
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was no sa
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t editing. I se
around the
as quite not
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atellite imag
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t area from t
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sed to create
here is an ar
the same day
eated, I could
reated earlie
his was not to
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d go to the E
er; using the
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gon.
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since the ash
red since the
ar
, I
h
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field in th
geometry
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Figure 8:
ng the Area
to calculate
he attribute
y of the poly
the value in
Calculating A
of the Ash
the area of
table of the
ygon. I used
square kilom
Area of plume
Plume.
the ash plum
polygon. Af
the coordin
meters.
e polygon
me from the
fter making t
ate system o
e volcano, it
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of the data f
is necessary
ume field, I
frame in ord
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calculated t
der to be abl
new
he
e to
Using Multiple days of digitized plume polygons to find a rate of plume expansion.
If I was able to digitize multiple days of the plume’s extent, I could have compared the
area of each polygon and determine at what rate it had expanded. To do this, I would follow
the same steps that I used to find the area of the April 16th plume for the other days. Next, I
could easily compare the sizes of the polygons by creating a graph in excel showing the
percentage change in area for each day, or an average of the increase of spare kilometers
perday
Using flight path information to visualize effect of ash plume on commercial airtravel.
If I was able to find either a line shapefile or even a map of European and transatlantic
flights that I could georeference then digitize, I could then use the select feature and “select
features by location” from the flightpath shapefile and tell the program to select feature that
intersect with the ash plume polygon. This would give the flightpaths that are directly affected
by the ash plume.
IV. Results
Area and Perimiter of Ash plume on April 16th, 2010
Area Perimeter
Ash Plume (April 16th) 1,200,188 sq. km 7,411 km
Conclusion:
Determining the area of the Ash plume from the continuous eruption of the
Eyjafjallajokull volcano can help Europe prepare for a similar situation in the future. It has been
postulated that the recent eruption of Eyjafjallajokull may trigger an eruption from its larger
nearby neighbor, the Katla volcano. Recording and evaluating the plume size and movement
across Europe is an invaluable way to help prepare citizens and airlines for a possible repeat of
this past years disaster. Unfortunately, with the data that was available to me, I was not able to
compile an extensive map of the ash plume over the course of the eruption. I was only able to
accurately digitize the plume extent on April 16th since it was the only day that had satellite
images of both Iceland and Northern Europe. Visualizing the plume’s interaction with European
flight paths can also help airlines prepare for a probable eruption of the Katla volcano.
Figure 9: A
A final map shhowing the volcanic ash plume along wwith how Euroopean airspacce was affecteed.