Visualization of volcanic ash clouds
Abstract
Ash clouds from a volcanic eruption-invisible to radar and nearly indistinguishable from weather clouds-pose a serious hazard to aviation safety. This article describes a system developed by the Alaska Volcano Observatory and the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center for predicting and visualizing the movement of ash clouds. Using meteorological and geophysical data from volcanic eruptions, a supercomputer model provides predictions of ash cloud movements for up to 72 hours. The AVS (Ash-cloud Visualization System) controls the execution of the ash cloud model and displays the model output in 3D form, showing the location of the ash cloud over a digital terrain model.
- Publication:
-
IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
- Pub Date:
- July 1995
- DOI:
- Bibcode:
- 1995ICGA...15d..34R
- Keywords:
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- Volcanic ash;
- Clouds;
- Data visualization;
- Meteorological radar;
- Weather forecasting;
- Hazards;
- Safety;
- Volcanoes;
- Observatories;
- Arctic