Operational Response to Volcanic Ash Risks Using HOTVOLC Satellite-Based System and MOCAGE-Accident Model at the Toulouse VAAC

• Published in: Atmosphere
• Main Authors: Mathieu Gouhier, Mathieu Deslandes, Yannick Guéhenneux, Philippe Hereil, Philippe Cacault, Béatrice Josse
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020
• Subjects: ash cloud; volcano; VAAC; satellite; HOTVOLC; risk; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Eyjafjallajökull
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11080864; https://doaj.org/article/5c9253b9fe344d7fb28f4298cd9a6799

In 2010, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted, generating an ash cloud causing unprecedented disruption of European airspace. Despite an exceptional situation, both the London and Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAAC) provided critical information on the location of the cloud and on the concentration of ash, thus contributing to the crisis management. Since then, substantial efforts have been carried out by the scientific community in order to improve remote sensing techniques and numerical modeling. Satellite instruments have proven to be particularly relevant for the characterization of ash cloud properties and a great help in the operational management of volcanic risk. In this study, we present the satellite-based system HOTVOLC developed at the Observatoire de Physique du Globe de Clermont-Ferrand (OPGC) using Meteosat geostationary satellite and designed for real-time monitoring of active volcanoes. After a brief presentation of the system we provide details on newly developed satellite products dedicated to the ash cloud characterization. This includes, in particular, ash cloud altitude and vertical column densities (VCD). Then, from the Stromboli 2018 paroxysm, we show how HOTVOLC can be used in a timely manner to assist the Toulouse VAAC in the operational management of the eruptive crisis. In the second part of the study, we provide parametric tests of the MOCAGE-Accident model run by the Toulouse VAAC from the April 17 Eyjafjallajökull eruption. For this purpose, we tested a range of eruption source parameters including the Total Grain Size Distribution (TGSD), the eruptive column profile, the top plume height and mass eruption rate (MER), as well as the fine ash partitioning. Finally, we make a comparison on this case study between HOTVOLC and MOCAGE-Accident VCD.