Support to Aviation for Volcanic Ash Avoidance (SAVAA)

Volcanic ash is a known hazard to aviation. Currently there are several satellite-based measurements that can detect volcanic substances, notably ash and SO₂ gas, and these have been used in an ad hoc way to provide information to Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAACs) and then to aviation to assist averting danger. While these data have been extremely useful, they lack quantitative value and all the data (except for the recent CALIPSO lidar measurements) lack height information- thought to be critical for aviation. A new project initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA) has been established to support aviation by supplying quantitative and timely satellite-based products and to fill the gaps in knowledge regarding the avoidance of hazardous volcanic clouds. The aims and implementation of the project -¿Support to Aviation for Volcanic Ash Avoidance (SAVAA)¿are described here. The main outcomes of the 3 year project will be the completion of a demonstration system-VAS³ that will be able to ingest satellite data and meteorological wind fields, compute the injection height profile of volcanic emissions to produce a range of analysis fields (products) that can be swiftly provided to support aviation avoid hazardous volcanic clouds.