Looked At The Effects Of Volcanic Ash On Air Traffic
During a summer internship program at NASA's Langley Research
Center, Alex Matus got more than just work experience -- he got an
award. Matus, who attends Texas A&M University, spent last
summer as a Langley Aerospace Summer Research Scholar, where he
worked with atmospheric scientist John Murray in the Science
Directorate studying the impact of volcanic ash on aviation.
After a volcanic eruption in Alaska last year halted hundreds of
flights, Matus decided to dedicate his summer to understanding how
to better track volcanic ash in the future. His research on "The
Impacts on Air Traffic of Volcanic Ash from the 2009 Mt. Redoubt
Eruption" provided invaluable results for the science community,
earning Matus an award in the first American Meteorological Society
Best Student Paper competition.
"I feel truly honored to receive this award," said Matus, who
plans to pursue a doctoral degree in atmospheric sciences and hopes
to eventually work at a national research institution such as NASA.
To understand the trajectory of ash after an explosion, Matus used
datasets from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and the
Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations
(CALIPSO).
After spending the summer fusing the two datasets, Matus found
that the volcano erupted to over 60,000 feet in altitude, and the
ash followed the prevailing winds. At lower altitudes, the ash went
to the northeast toward Canada, and at high altitudes, the ash
dispersed to the southeast toward Washington state.
In addition to demonstrating the benefits of combining two
datasets, Matus also concluded that the flow of ash in two
different directions created a challenging scenario for accurately
assessing the risks of flying and safely managing aircraft traffic.
"In the future scientists will be able to use Matus' research to
help improve techniques to detect and characterize volcanic ash,"
said Murray, Matus' mentor at NASA Langley. "In addition federal
agencies such as the FAA will be able to use his research to issue
better advisories and warnings."
For his research contributions, the AMS will present Matus with
a certificate, monetary reward and notice of his selection for best
student paper in the upcoming issue of the Bulletin of the American
Meteorological Society.
Matus, who is from Blue Bell, PA, said the project was "fun and
rewarding to work on over the past year. I would enjoy continuing
similar research in the future," he said.