NUIG researchers develop ash forecasting technology

NUI Galway researchers have developed Ireland’s own system for monitoring ash erupting from the volcano in Iceland.

The system of forecasting is expected to be one of the most sophisticated in Europe after it is tweaked in the coming weeks.

At the moment the researchers are producing twice daily reports which give information on how dense the plume is and its geographic spread.

Over the next week the forecasts will increase to six-day forecasts which will be issued four times daily.

Although the Atmospheric Research Group is based in the Department of Experimental Physics on campus, most of the research is carried out at the group's research facility at Mace Head, near Carna, Co Galway in Connemara (pictured above).

Professor Colin O’Dowd, Director of the Centre for Climate & Air Pollution Studies at NUI Galway, which is behind this major development, stated: “This is not only an excellent example of national collaboration and solidarity amongst key scientific partners in times of national need but also of innovation and a capacity for rapid response in a crisis. The combined skill of NUI Galway in atmospheric physics and air pollution research, Met Éireann in weather and climate research, and the Irish Centre for High End Computing (ICHEC) in computational science, was the perfect recipe for the rapid success”.

by Mairéad Ní Chaoimh