This award supports the PI, William Rose, and a graduate student from the Michigan Technological University and Game McGimsey of the Alaska Volcano Observatory in a collaboration with Hans F. Graf of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany. The research focus is on combining a comprehensive data set, produced from observational data from three volcanic eruptions, with a new model for simulating volcanic plumes. The observational data come from eruptions at Crater Peak/Mt. Spurr in Alaska, and include geophysical, radar, radiosonde, satellite, fallout, and ash data. The new model, Active Tracer High Resolution Atmospheric Model (ATHAM) is the most sophisticated attempt yet to model a volcanic plume. This is an interdisciplinary effort, and contact between the German atmospheric science group and the U.S. volcanological group is essential to the project. The result of the collaboration will be an understanding of the influences and impact of volcanic emission on regional and global areas. Ultimately, the new capabilities deriving from this project will improve our ability to forecast the hazardous effects of volcanic eruptions.
