British Airways Boeing 747-436 (25406/895) G-BNLU seen at Victorville-Southern California Logistics Airport (VCV/KVCV) on November 8, 2014.
(Photo by Michael Carter)
British Airways (BA) has started a year-long volcanic ash monitoring project in partnership with the UK Met Office and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
A prototype of the ZEUS ash detection device, developed by the Met Office and NERC, has been fitted on a BA Boeing 747 and will monitor small amounts of ash in the atmosphere. This will then be matched up with flight data—including weather conditions, speed, altitude and location—to build up a picture of volcanic ash distribution.
The first raft of data, collected from a flight between London and Johannesburg, has already been sent to the Met Office for analysis. “ZEUS has the potential to provide a clearer picture of ash distribution and could be used to inform decision making-processes in the event of future volcanic eruptions,” BA captain Dean Plumb said.
ZEUS was initially trialed on the NERC/Met Office’s dedicated research aircraft, before being fitted to a Flybe Bombardier Q400 in 2012.
Met Office head of natural hazards Ian Lisk said the project is a "great result of cross-industry collaboration, including British Airways, Flybe, NERC and the Met Office. While further development is still required, we are delighted with progress with this prototype volcanic ash sensor to date and the findings we have so far received from the tests are very promising.”
ZEUS uses measurements of static as a tool to detect ash, after a pilot in a research aircraft noticed his hair stood on end when low levels of volcanic ash were present.
Likewise, BA’s fellow UK-carrier easyJet has been working with partners to trial AVOID ash detection technology.
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