Impact of volcanic activity on airports

1
Effect of Volcanic Activity on Airports By M.
Guffanti, G. Mayberry, R. Wunderman, T.
Casadevall
Photo by Hugo Yepes
2
Vesuvius March 1944
Photos courtesy of G. Versolato D.
Taddei http//sbl.salk.edu/dkaiser/Vesuvius.html
3
Reventador, Ecuador, Nov. 2002
Quito
Quito Intl. Airport closed for gt1 week
By F. Prata, CSIRO
4
Main hazard is ashfall accumulation of even a
few mm can be a problem.
Quito, Oct. 1999
By Hugo Yepes
Rarely, lava or pf hazard
Goma, Jan. 2002
Montserrat, June 1997
By W. Aspinall
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Slippery Runways Reduced Visibility
6
Ash deposits on parked planes hangars
Cubi Point, 1991
Quito AP, Nov. 2002
By Hugo Yepes
7
Remobilized Ash
By Aircraft
By machinery, aircraft, wind
8
Contamination of ground-support systems
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Cleanup!
Reuters
Quito Airport, Nov. 2002
Anchorage Airport, 1989
10
Ash can affect airports distant from eruptive
source.
Hudson (Chile) 1991
from BVGN
11
Ash in airspace around airports has damaged
aircraft in-flight.
Guatemala City
Fuego
GVP photos
Looking south toward Pacaya
Courtesy of J. Ewert
12
Airport closures may cause loss of alternate
landing sites required for some trans-oceanic
flights of twin-engine aircraft (e.g., ICELAND)

E.g., Iceland North Atlantic Air Routes
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VulnerabilityWorldwide, 475 airports are within
100 km of volcanoes that have erupted since 1900.
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New Compilation of Reported Incidents of
Airport Impacts, 1944-mid 2004By USGS/VHP and
Smithsonian/GVP

• REFERENCES previous USGS Report 93-518, news
  reports, Bulletin of GVN, et al.
• AIRPORT AP lat/long, city,country
• VOLCANIC SOURCE name, eruption date, VEI,
  lat/long, country, Smithsonian ID
• HAZARD TYPE ashfall, pf, lava, airborne
• DESCRIPTION OF IMPACT

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From 1944 to 2003, operations disrupted on 108
occasions at 75 cities/airports in 20
countries by eruptions at 35 volcanoes
minimum count due to under-reporting
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• 35 VOLCANIC SOURCES (1944-2003)
• Hudson, Llaima, Lascar----------------------------
  ---------CHILE
• Galeras-------------------------------------------
  -----------------COLOMBIA
• Nyiragongo----------------------------------------
  --------------CONGO
• Pinchincha, Reventador, Tungurahua----------------
  --ECUADOR
• Fuego, Pacaya-------------------------------------
  --------------GUATEMALA
• Agung, Galunggung, Gamalama, Lokon,
  Soputan--INDONESIA
• Etna, Vesuvius------------------------------------
  ---------------ITALY
• Miyake-jima, Sakura-jima--------------------------
  ----------JAPAN
• El Chichon, Colima, Popocatepetl------------------
  ------MEXICO
• Soufriere Hills-----------------------------------
  -----------------MONTSERRAT
• Ruapehu, White Island-----------------------------
  ------------NZ
• Lamington, Pago, Rabaul---------------------------
  ----------PNG
• Pinatubo------------------------------------------
  ------------------PHILIPPINES
• Sheveluch-----------------------------------------
  -----------------RUSSIA
• Augustine, Redoubt, Spurr, St. Helens,
  Anatahan----USA

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Airport Distance from Volcanic Source
Frequency Histogram (each airport counted once)
32 of airports lt 50 km from volcanic source
46 lt 100 km
21 gt 400 km (1/2 due to Chilean eruptions)
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NASA MODIS

Anatahan, CNMI May 2003
Typhoon pushed plume S toward Guam Flights
cancelled to/from Guam Saipan on 23 May 03
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• Airports Often Impacted
• ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Spurr, Redoubt)
• CATANIA, Italy (Etna)
• KAGOSHIMA, Japan (Sakura-jima)
• MANADO, Indonesia (Lokon, Soputan)
• MEXICO CITY, Mexico (Popocatepetl)
• QUITO, Ecuador (Pichincha, Reventador)

• Troublesome Volcanoes
• ETNA, Italy (Catania AP)
• SAKURA-JIMA, Japan (Kagoshima AP)
• POPOCATEPETL, Mexico (Mexico City AP)
• SOUFRIERE HILLS, Montserrat (11 airports)

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MITIGATION e.g., reduce AP closure times, cover
aircraft, clean up efficiently.

• I. Eruption Information
• II. Preparedness

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I. Eruption Information
Forewarning of imminent volcanic hazards can help
to reduce operational disruptions and improve
safety at airports.

• 1. Real-time detection of explosive activity
• 2. Forecasted plume paths
• 3. Detection of on-coming plume

22
Sakura-jima real-time monitoring of frequent
explosive eruptions
From BGVN (Onodero et al. 1994)
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Forecasting Plume Paths
Forecast ash ARRIVAL TIMES 1-2 hrs after
eruption within 100-km radius
1989 Redoubt plume as seen from Anchorage Airport
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Popocatepetl
Ashfall Hazard Zones
M.C.
Exp. ground-based Doppler RADAR to track plume
movement at night in bad weather.
25
Proposed G-biRD system
Tenix
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II. Preparedness
Ash-contaminated airports can operate with due
caution. Practical operational guidelines, based
on a shared body of experience, are published
notably ICAO (2001) Casadevall (1993)
Airports with significant volcanic risk should
have that information on hand as a basic
preparedness measure.
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Etna, Oct. 2002 Jan. 2003
Intl. Space Station Picture
Catania AP Sigonella NAS impacted
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NAS SIGONELLA INSTRUCTION 3141.1A January
2003   Subj VOLCANIC ASHFALL OPERATIONS PLAN  
Ref Manual on Volcanic Ash, Radioactive
Material and Toxic Chemical Clouds
Doc 9691-AN/954 (ICAO publication)
Volcanic Ash and Airports, Discussions and
Recommendations from the Workshop on
Impacts of Volcanic Ash on Airport
Facilities, April 1993, Thomas J.
Casadevall Mitigation of Volcanic Ash Effects
on Aircraft Operating and Support
Systems, 1983, John R. Labadie
Volcanic Ash and Aviation Safety,
Proceedings of the First
International symposium on Volcanic Ash and
Aviation Safety, July 1991, Thomas J.
Casadevall   Encl (1) Pilot Operating
Instructions 2) Vehicle Operating
Instructions   1. Purpose. To promulgate
information concerning hazardous and
destructive volcanic ash deposits, establish
conditions of readiness in anticipation
of the destructive effects of volcanic ash on
airfield and base, and the procedure for
dissemination of weather warnings. 
29
enacAeroportodiCatania FontanarossaPRODEDURE
E RACCOMANDAZIONE PER LA GESTIONE DELLE
OPERAZIONO VOLO IN PRESENZA DINUBE DI CENERE
VULCANIAEnte Nazionale per lAviazione
CivileDoc. APT-ETNA ed. 1 del 24.07.2003
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INFORMATION SOURCES

• ICAO Manual on Volcanic Ash, Radioactive Material
  Toxic Clouds, Doc. 9691-AN/954, 2001.
• To order call 1-514-954-8022 (Montreal) US 44.
• USGS Open-File Report 93-518 Volcanic Ash and
  Airports by Casadevall, 1993.
• Proceedings 1st Intl Symposium on Volcanic Ash
  Aviation Safety, USGS Bulletin 2047, 1994.
• To order USGS pubs call 1-888-ASK-USGS
• Under development an ash website