Flight planning in case of volcanic eruption

• Published in: AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conference
• Main Authors: Schmitt, Angela R., Kuenz, Alexander
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Pilotenassistenz; Eyjafjallajökull
• Online Access: https://elib.dlr.de/103142/; https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2016-3682

Within the DLR internal project VolcATS – Volcanic Ash Impact on the Air Transport System- the DLR Institute of Flight Guidance has the task of finding safe routes to deal with volcanic ash clouds. The goal is a flexible air traffic management, which is able to react efficiently in case of volcanic eruptions. Within the project the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 is reprocessed. Even before the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted there were efforts to keep the impact of volcanic ash on air traffic as low as possible. These efforts have been greatly increased after the eruption. The impacts of this work were already evident during the outbreak of Grimsvötn in 2011. The air traffic had been much less affected in this case. The main focus is the safety of each flight. When spreading volcanic ash threatens aviation, the responsible Volcanic Ash Advisory Center will issue Volcanic Ash Advisories (VAA). The flight planning will then additionally be based on volcanic ash forecasts. These are part of the VAA. The accuracy of sensing and generating the forecasts of volcanic ash has been improved in recent years. The planning of safe flight routes depends on these processes. The forecast of volcanic ash are provided by the DLR Institute of Atmospheric Physics. It has the three zone model for low (0.2 – 2 mg/m³), medium (between 2-4 mg/m³) and high (more than 4 mg/m³) concentrations specified by the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center London [1]. The forecasts are updated in a three hour interval and cover the next 24 hours with three hour temporal resolution. For the air traffic the 17th April 2010 is simulated. On that day the difference between demanded flights and performed flights is significant [2]. Traffic data are downloaded from the DDR of EUROCONTROL. Round trips and flights shorter than 22 NM (these flights will not reach relevant cruise altitudes) are excluded. The resulting scenario contains 22 170 flights within 24 hours. Investigations have shown that most cancelled flights have a conflict during the initial ...