HYSPLIT Volcanic Ash Model Mt. Augustine volcanic eruption(Credit: Cyrus Read, U.S. Geological Survey) Volcanic ash is hazardous to aircraft because it can degrade engine performance and navigational and operational instrumentation. Meteorologists at the VAAC and the Meteorological Watch Offices use the HYSPLIT forecasts, among other sources of information, for writing Volcanic Ash Advisories and Significant…
Initializing HYSPLIT with Satellite Observations of Volcanic Ash ARL is investigating the use of satellite information about volcanic ash clouds to improve volcanic ash forecasts made with HYSPLIT. Some of this work has been described in a paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres: Crawford, B. J. B. Stunder, F. Ngan, M. J.…
Volcanic Ash Modeling Volcanic ash is a hazard to aircraft because it can degrade engine performance and navigational and operational instrumentation. Operationally, the NWS runs the ARL-developed HYSPLIT model to forecast the transport and dispersion of volcanic ash in and near the U.S. Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers’ (VAAC) (Anchorage, AK, and Washington, DC) areas of responsibility. What We Do…
ARL News National Volcanic Ash Operations Plan August 30, 2007 The Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (OFCM) will soon publish the “National Volcanic Ash Operations Plan for Aviation and Support of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) International Airways Volcano Watch”. ARL’s role, outlined in the plan, is to…
Air Resources Laboratory’s HYSPLIT v9 approved for implementation March 20, 2025 https://www.arl.noaa.gov/wp_arl/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/HYSPLIT-Ash-Simulation.mp4 HYSPLIT simulation of ash from a hypothetical eruption of Mount Spur. Credit: Alice Crawford (NOAA) The Air Resources Laboratory’s (ARL) HYSPLIT model is one of the most extensively used atmospheric transport and dispersion models in the atmospheric sciences community. It has been used…
Ariel Stein appointed to serve on the National Volcano Early Warning System Advisory Committee ARL Director Ariel Stein was appointed by the Secretary of Interior to a two-year term to serve on the National Volcano Early Warning System Advisory Committee (NVEWSAC). As part of this committee, he will help the Secretary with the implementation of…
Air Resources Laboratory Celebrates 75th Anniversary at AMS January 25, 2024 As an opening to the 75th anniversary celebrations, ARL is hosting sessions at AMS in Baltimore on Wednesday, January 31, 2024. Director, Dr. Ariel Stein, and Deputy Director, Dr. LaToya Myles will chair three sessions on the history, current and future research, and partnerships…
Urban Atmospheric Monitoring and Modeling System (Urban-AMMS) NOAA ARL is developing Urban-AMMS, an operational capability to measure and model fluxes of air pollutants in urban areas, in collaboration with other OAR labs (Global Monitoring Laboratory and Chemical Sciences Laboratory) as well as the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). The system integrates existing, mature…
Major HYSPLIT Update Improves the Nation’s Public Safety December 6, 2022 On December 6, 2022, a major new version of HYSPLIT was fully implemented to provide new operational tools to weather forecasters at the National Weather Service. HYSPLIT is the pre-eminent model, developed and updated by NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory, that has been used for…
Mauna Loa Erupts Sample HYSPLIT Ash simulation on 11/30. November 29, 2022. Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano on Earth, erupted on November 28, 2022. During an active eruption, NOAA’s National Weather Service and other offices continually monitor a number of conditions. The Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) developed HYSPLIT volcanic ash model is the core…