GPS Tracking Poised to Track Dangerous Volcanic Clouds
22 Jul 2013Dangerous ash-filled clouds may soon have a new enemy – GPS tracking technology.
Scientists are currently working on a new way to utilize GPS tracking technology in order to follow some dangerous clouds. These ash-filled clouds, or “volcanic clouds,” have the potential to, among other things, clog an airplane’s engines with their particles. This could mean an airplane starts plummeting with no other course of action.
The technology looks similar to the bars you see on your cell phone when you have a strong or weak signal. This new signal strength technology is used in conjunction with the intensity of the GPS signal, while trying to cut through the volcanic cloud’s large particle-filled plumes. The research in question was originally published in the Geophysical Research Letters journal.
The research for this new signal strength technology came shortly after a volcano in Iceland caused cancelled flights throughout Europe for almost a week. This was two years ago. The ash from the clouds caused too much interruption and made flying too dangerous.
But with this new GPS technology, there may be a solution. The data collected during the research shows they may have early detection and warning from the hazardous volcanic clouds immediately after filling the sky. This would mean pilots have time to avoid the areas filled with this ash, and be able to make a safe landing. Without the advanced warning, there is no telling what could happen as the ash can fill up their engines very quickly.
While the inner signal strength technology of GPS tracking devices has always been there, there hasn’t been much use for it until now. Scientists are finding that it can actually help them study the movement of volcanic eruptions, analyze this data and use it to warn pilots who may be in the air at the time of the cloud.
According to Kristine Larson, professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado in Boulder, “When I learned GPS, you were supposed to use it to measure where you are. These days, I look for weird things to do with GPS.”
Larson has been working on the research with colleagues from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, the original research team who set up GPS in order to measure shifting terrain following eruptions in Alaska. When equipment was placed on the ground, signals changed on the GPS technology; this is how they realized the potential for advanced warning signals.
When there were plumes from volcanic activity with ash inside, it blocked the GPS signals. So if a pilot was flying over an area with this same GPS blockage, they would know immediately to choose a different route and find a safe landing.
In addition, utilizing this technology means that fewer people must be close by to actually monitor or watch the volcano — thereby allowing people to remain a safer distance away from areas of imminent danger in the event of an eruption.
GPS is proving to be more beneficial for different areas of science, and now with helping send warning of dangerous volcanic clouds. More research still needs to be conducted on the density of the plumes for a drop in signal strength, which is currently being done at the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory in Washington.
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