Wellington VAAC Operations during the 2011 Puyehue-Cordon Caulle event

Marcel RouxManager, Wellington VAAC

Meteorological Service of New Zealand Ltd

Focus Areas

• Ash detection• Data exchange,

collaboration and co-ordination

• Confidence levels on the Volcanic Ash Graphic

Image Source: http://science.howstuffworks.com/dictionary/petrology-terms/volcanic-ash1.htm

Ash Detection

• Satellite Imagery– Infra-red and visible– Sulphur Dioxide imagery– Laser-radar imagery – Darwin VAAC

Image Source: http://www.meted.ucar.edu/spaceweather/basic/media_gallery.php

Ash Detection

• Pilot Reports of Ash or No Ash– Routine receipt across NZ

and between Australia and NZ.

– Reports grounding flight operations

Ceilometer and LIDAR

• CL31 – ceilometer on certain of MetService’s AWSs

• 2 CL viewing licences.– 17 locations around NZ.

• NIWA operated LIDAR, located in Lauder

Images Copyright Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited 2012

Pilot Reports

• Evidence of ash and no ash in satellite imagery

• Conflicting Pilot Reports– NO ASH and ASH reports

over similar flight routes.Image Source: http://franksemails.com/pics/erj190-in-argentina/

MTSAT Imagery

MTSAT imagery courtesy Japan Meteorological Agency

11 June 2011 0100UTC

MODIS Imagery

Ash

Ash

Data Exchange, collaboration and co-ordination

• Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)• Darwin VAAC• Airways Corporation NZ• Air New Zealand Flight Dispatch

Data Exchange, collaboration and co-ordination

Consistency

Possible VAG Confidence Levels

• Confidence in the position of lateral boundaries of ash cloud– High = Black–Medium = Blue– Low = Red

• Same technique could be used to assess confidence in the vertical extent

Confidence of Vertical Extent

• Objective confidence levels– IR Temp and Sounding vs

Lidar, Radar and PIREP– Amount of consistent

observationsImage Copyright Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited 2012

Image Courtesy of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research

Example of Confidence Technique

Example of Confidence Technique

Example Confidence Chart