Grímsvötn Volcanic Eruption
The Grímsvötn volcano in Iceland began erupting violently on 21 May 2011 and continued to erupt until 25 May 2011, disrupting air traffic over the North Atlantic and Europe.
The Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) and the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) provided near real-time satellite retrievals of ash cloud height, mass loading, and particle size to the volcanic ash operational and research community, including the London Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), through the CIMSS Web site.
Meteosat-9 visible channel images showed the volcanic eruption cloud emanating from the Grímsvötn volcano in Iceland on 21 May 2011 (images courtesy of Dave Santek, SSEC). According to the Icelandic Met Office, at 21:00 UTC the eruption plume had risen to an altitude of over 65,000 ft (~20 km).
NOAA/NESDIS/STAR contributed satellite-derived information on the height and horizontal location of volcanic ash to these reports.
STAR and CIMSS scientists developed the volcanic ash products in preparation for the next generation Geostationary Environmental Operational Satellite (GOES-R). The Spinning Enhanced Visible/Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) was used as a proxy for GOES-R data. In addition, several new satellite images and animations of the eruption have been added to the CIMSS Satellite Blog and the STAR web site contains additional information about the eruption and the STAR/CIMSS volcanic ash products.
In response to the eruption, the NOAA Volcanic Ash Working Group (VAWG) prepared twice daily significant event reports to NOAA senior leadership. These reports were used to help brief White House officials on the status of the ash cloud over Europe and the North Atlantic.
The airborne volcanic ash is a major threat to aviation. Satellite products developed by NOAA/NESDIS/STAR were used to quantitatively track Grímsvötn volcanic ash in near real-time as it spread over the North Atlantic and Europe, impacting air traffic, while President Obama was visiting Europe. London VAAC was responsible for issuing ash cloud advisories for the Grímsvötn cloud.Back to Front Page
