ABSTRACT

Optoelectronics has been extensively used in the field of atmospheric science. The London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre based within the UK Met Office is responsible for monitoring and forecasting the movement and dispersion of volcanic ash originating from volcanoes in Iceland. In addition to meteorological fields and information concerning the location of the eruption, starting time, release height, and plume height, the accuracy of atmospheric dispersion models depends on the representation of the plume dynamics within the model and the physical properties of the ash and gases in the plume. Aerosol spectrometers define a series of measurement bins with upper and lower size limits and develop a histogram by incrementing the number within the appropriate bin when a particle is measured in that bin's size range. Particle sizing and counting relies on the fact that only one particle at a time is in the field of view of the optics.