VIRTUAL VOLCANOLOGY: MODELING ASH CLOUDS IN GOOGLE EARTH

The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano ignited considerable interest in how volcanic eruptions might be illustrated through modern visualization mediums such as Google Earth. Using Keyhole Markup Language (KML) the dispersion of ash can be shown in Google Earth as placemarks, polygons or image overlays that represent the extent of airspace impacted in either two or three-dimensions. Using examples from Eyjafjallajökull and recent eruptions by Alaskan volcanoes this presentation will demonstrate the relative benefits and limitations of different KML models. There will also be consideration of how the dispersion of ash impacts air traffic patterns, and how these data can be meaningfully visualized using KML.