The NERC Field Spectroscopy Facility have been assisting both the national meteorological and the scientific effort to monitor and investigate the Iceland volcanic ash plume currently causing disruption to air travel across Western Europe through the use of a sunphotometer perminantly mounted at the Chilbolton Observatory and the supply of sunphotometers to scientists through the FSF Emergency loans procedure.
Data from the FSF CIMEL automatic sunphotometer, located as part of NASA AERONET at the NERC/RAL Chilbolton Observatory, is being used by the Met Office and academic scientists to measure aerosol optical properties and hence infer characteristics of the ash plume. Sunphotometers are instruments that when aligned with the solar disc and when the geographical location, altitude and time of measurement are known, data recorded can be used to estimate aerosol size and concentration in the atmosphere. An information sheet on the use of sunphotometer data to estimate aerosol properties can be down loaded from here and further information on the use of software to determine aerosol partical size by Dr Tsanev's of the University of Cambridge can be down loaded here
Prior to the current disruption FSF received a request, from Dr Vitchko Tsanev of the University of Cambridge, also through the Emergency Loan procedure, for a sunphotometer to enable measurements to be made by Cambridge scientists already working in the field at the Eyjafjoll volcano in Iceland. When the ash cloud reached the UK, remote sensing scientists in the UK with sunphotometers on loan from FSF (Prof. Wooster, King's College, London; Prof. Yavinder, University of Oxford; Dr Welham, of Bournemouth University) were requested to take measurements whenever conditions allowed. This data is being supplied to Dr Tsanev who will infer particle size and concentration within the plume for each geographical location at which the data was acquired. This can then be compared with the modelled distributions and concentrations.
A request was also receive from Dr J. Ulanowski of the University of Hertfordshire over the weekend of the 7th May for an emergency loan of a hand held sunphotometer. Dr Ulanowski, working in collaboration with scientists at the Met Office, has been launching balloon carrying instruments to sample the volcanic ash in the plumes and using a hand held sunphotometer to make simultaneous measurements. Measurements are currently being taken with this sunphotometer in South Uist where it was positioned just prior to the shut down of some air space over Scotland and Ireland on Tuesday 4th May. In addition, and as part of the same application, a second FSF CIMEL has been located at West Freugh in southern Scotland to log atmospheric optical properties at half hourly intervals.
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