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Enhancing near real-time aviation safety with geostationary satellite observations
Natural events like volcanic eruptions, desert storms or fires can affect and threaten aviation traffic and local populations. To mitigate the related risks, it is paramount to have access to satellite observations in near-real time with the best temporal resolution to track the potentially hazardous plumes.
BIRA-IASB has long-standing experience in disseminating near-real time satellite data products relevant for aviation, with its Support to Aviation Control Service (SACS).
However, SACS only provides data from polar orbiting satellites that have limited temporal resolution. Therefore, BIRA-IASB has teamed-up with the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI) to develop the capability of providing information from geostationary (GEO) platforms, with a nearly global coverage and a time sampling of about 15 minutes.
BIRA-IASB is developing aerosol and SO2 index products from a suite of GEO instruments. The GEO retrievals use a discrimination technique known as the Covariance-Based Retrieval Algorithm (COBRA). By combining data from five geostationary sensors (known as the Georing) — FCI, SEVIRI-IO, AHI, ABI-East, and ABI-West — this system provides near-global atmospheric observations.
Global alerts for threatening events: focus on Sheveluch eruption and Gobi Desert sandstorm monitored by HIMAWARI-9
The aim is to deliver timely alerts on a global scale in the case of an event that could potentially threaten the safety of populations or airplanes.
The intense 2023 Sheveluch volcanic eruption (Russia) and the sandstorm from the Gobi Desert (South Mongolia - North China) on April 11, 2023, serve as representative examples, illustrated with images captured by the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) sensor onboard the HIMAWARI-9 platform.
To illustrate the performance of the new detection schemes, we compare the state-of-the-art RGB ash composite (left) with a newly developed RGB composite that integrates the new indices for aerosols (ash/dust), SO₂ and as background the 10 µm thermal infrared channel (right). The two RGB images are complementary.
The standard RGB ash composite highlights weather conditions and hazardous clouds but misses the SO₂ cloud north of Sheveluch. In contrast, our new RGB composite also shows the northward-dispersing SO₂ signal.
While the RGB ash composite remains a valuable tool for monitoring, its application in early warning systems is challenging. Our new RGB composite is more conservative—nearly all green and red pixels indicate alerts, corresponding to SO₂ and ash/dust particles, respectively.
We are implementing notifications for key stakeholders, including volcano observatories (for population awareness and safety) and Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAACs) to enhance aviation safety.
