Investigation into the use of SEVIRI imagery for the automatic detection of volcanic ash clouds
Ringer, M. A. ; Watkin Sarah
Volcanic ash clouds can cause serious damage to an aircraft that can result in expensive repairs or even engine failure. Airlines require information about the presence of ash clouds so that aircraft can take evasive action. The results of an investigation into the potential use of data from SEVIRI (the imager on Meteosat Second Generation) for the detection of volcanic ash clouds are presented in this report. An overview of the SEVIRI instrument is given together with its accuracy characteristics and the effect these have on volcanic ash detection. A review of research into volcanic ash detection methods relevant to the SEVIRI channels is presented. Two case studies, one from Iceland and one from Indonesia were used to investigate the frequently used split-window technique and the false alarm for this technique was estimated. An analytic, modified, two-stream radiative transfer model has been used to simulate the expected brightness temperatures for volcanic ash in each of the infrared SEVIRI channels. To conclude, suggestions for further work are outlined and initial recommendations given for the use of SEVIRI data for volcanic ash detection.
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