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Dispersion modeling of volcanic ash clouds: North Pacific eruptions, the past 40 years: 1970–2010

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Abstract

Over the last 40 years, there have been numerous volcanic eruptions across the North Pacific (NOPAC) region that posed a potential threat to both local communities and transcontinental aircraft. The ability to detect these volcanic clouds using satellite remote sensing and predict their movement by dispersion modeling is a major component of hazard mitigation. The Puff volcanic ash transport and dispersion model, used by the Alaska Volcano Observatory, was used to illustrate the impact that these volcanic ash clouds have made across the NOPAC and entire Polar region over the past 40 years. Nearly, 400 separate ash clouds were analyzed that were either reported or detected to have reached above 6 km (20,000 ft) above sea level, an average of one ash cloud every 1.25 months. Particular events showed that ash clouds can be tracked from Alaska to Greenland (Crater Peak, Mount Spurr in 1992), from Kamchatka to Alaska (Kluvicheskoi Volcano in 1994), from Alaska to California (Mount Cleveland Volcano in 2001) and from multiple events within 1 day (Mount Augustine Volcano in 2006). This study showed the vast number of events that have impacted this Polar region and how tracking them is useful for hazard mitigation.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jonathan Dehn (UAF) and the AVO remote sensing group for their analysis and comments on the Puff time series analysis. This work was supported by the Arctic Region Supercomputer Center, the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska and the U.S. Geological Survey as part of the Volcano Hazards Program, through the Alaska Volcano Observatory, a collaborative effort of the USGS, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Alaska Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

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Correspondence to P. W. Webley.

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Webley, P.W., Dean, K., Peterson, R. et al. Dispersion modeling of volcanic ash clouds: North Pacific eruptions, the past 40 years: 1970–2010. Nat Hazards 61, 661–671 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-011-0053-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-011-0053-9

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