LIDAR networks could help track volcanic ash clouds | Freelance Science Writer

LIDAR networks could help track volcanic ash clouds

Environmental Research Web, 29 August 2012
environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/50647

Volcanoes can cause havoc in the air as well as on the ground. Dust from the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano in spring 2010 shut down much of European airspace for days at a time. Meanwhile, the eruption of Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 suppressed global temperatures for two or three years. Observing how and where a volcanic ash cloud disperses is difficult, but a new study demonstrates how LIDAR (optical remote sensing) can complement satellite data and help to minimize the disruption that explosive volcanoes can cause.

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