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Satellites Keep Aircraft Away From Volcanic Cloud
coondoggie writes "A range of satellites from a host of different nations are pumping out images and data on the Icelandic volcano currently wreaking havoc on commercial airline traffic and aviation in general. The European Space Agency today noted four major satellites that are monitoring the volcano that erupted this week under Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull glacier. They include NASA's Aqua and Aura as well as the European Space Agency's Envisat and MetOp spacecraft. Other satellites such as NASA's Terra and NOAA's GOES satellite also provide images." Updated 20100416 01:17 GMT by timothy: Apropos that, 2Y9D57 writes with this "Image of the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, after it began erupting on 15 April. Acquired by the German TerraSAR-X synthetic aperture radar satellite from a height of about 500 kilometers / 300 miles."
The next time why someone asks why we should fund space exploration as opposed to simply spending money trying to feed starving people it might be good to point this out (along with weather prediction/mapping capabilities/etc.).
Ok seriously where does this name come from
"Eyjafjallajoekull" translates to: All your ash are belong to us
Not directly answering your question, but:
PICTURES: Finnish F-18 engine check reveals effects of volcanic dust
Finnish fighter jets damaged by volcanic cloud
Original article of Finnish Air Force (in Finnish)
It's dangerous in three main ways to an aircraft:
Least dangerous (relatively) is the st.elmos fire produced by static buildup (you are flying through a good static generator at high speed).
Next is the fact that you are flying through ash, which is a bit like sandpaper. The result is your turbines get sand blasted, ruining them in many ways. This is not an instant failure, most aircraft will just continue and get the engines repaired/replaced at next stop.
Most dangerous is the third. The glass, silica and other parts thrown into the air will melt in the high temperature of the turbine combustion chamber. This will then tend to fuse and block further combustion, resulting in the engine shutting down mid-air. Bad situation to be in, made worse by the fact there is no guarantee you can start it up again (normally after a few mins the gunk will solidify and break off, allowing you to restart the engine, but this isn't guaranteed (and this is assuming it breaks off before you impact the ground)
Also the abrasive effect of the ash can scratch the windows, particularly the forward facing ones the pilots look out of and it can abrade the aluminum skin, particularly the leading edges of the wings. Neither will bring the plane down but they can necessitate expensive repairs and if the windows become opaque enough it can make landing difficult.
When this volcano blows a major Katla eruption follows soon after. Katla is about 10 miles East.
This one shuts down half the air travel in western Europe for a few days. Katla shuts down summer. The farmers are not worried about this volcano:
"I am not afraid of this eruption but I fear Katla. It might not happen immediately but it will happen. Then we will be talking about much more power," Agnarsson said.
It has to do with the type of plate tectonics here. The plates are pulling apart, yielding a very deep rift that releases very hot magma from very far down in the mantle, which is saturated with CO2 and when released goes very high, far, thick and long. Naturally this will melt a great deal of Iceland glacier very quickly, impacting the currents in the Atlantic.
Help stamp out iliturcy.