Near real-time monitoring of the April-May 2010 Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud: an example of a web-based, satellite data-driven, reporting system

During the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano (Iceland) we set up a system designed to ingest satellite data and output volcanic ash cloud products. The system (HVOS = HotVolc Observing System) ingested on reception data provided every 15 minutes by the SEVIRI sensor flown aboard the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite. Data were automatically processed and posted on the web to provide plume location maps, as well as to extract plume metrics (cloud top height and mass flux), in near-real time. Given the closing speeds for aircraft approaching such hazardous ash clouds, reporting delays for such products have to be minimised.