Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers National Weather Service

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 31, 2025, 7:20 AM

volcanic ash advisory centers national weather service

Washington Center: The Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) is one of nice VAACs around the globe. The Washington VAAC sits within the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) and is part of the Satellite Analysis Branch's (SAB) Volcanic Ash Program. A staff of 12-14 volcano analysts work rotating shifts to ensure 24/7 monitoring of activity across the US including Hawaii, the Caribbean, Central and northern South America (to 10S latitude) including the Galapagos Islands,... Within this region of responsibility, there are 20 Volcano Observatory (VO) groups and 23 Meteorological Watch Offices (MWO). This center and the Alaskan Center discussed below are designated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) through Annex 3 to advise on airborne ash. Washington VAAC analysts utilize multiple satellites, webcams, receive information from MWOs, VOs, and use many other tools to help monitor volcanic activity.

Volcanic Ash Advisories (VAA) and Volcanic Ash Graphics (VAG) are the official VAAC products used to alert of volcanic activity across the impacted areas and depict how the activity will evolve over a given... This information proves valuable to core partners that include Domestic and International Airlines, Air Traffic Control and Operational groups (ARTCCs and ATCs), and many others. The Washington VAAC is the ofical backup to the Buenos Aires, Montreal, and Anchorage VAACs. Anchorage Center: Doubling as the Alaskan Aviation Weather Unit, the Anchorage Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) is responsible for detecting and tracking volcanic ash for more than fifty active volcanoes in Alaska. The VAAC also monitors volcanoes on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia, watching for downstream impacts on the Anchorage Flight Information Region (FIR). The VAAC is tasked with domestic and international warning responsibilities which include issuing volcanic ash advisories and graphics.

Meteorologists also monitor several inactive volcanoes for re-suspended volcanic ash threats. These tasks help fulfill obligations under the International Airways Volcano Watch program. The VAAC forecasters also coordinate with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and international VAAC offices in Washington, D.C., Montreal, and Tokyo. US Dept of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service Aviation , Comments? Questions? Please Contact Us.

An official website of the United States government Official websites use .govA .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Secure .gov websites use HTTPSA lock ( Lock Locked padlock icon ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Look for: ash? (VA/EMS), height (SFC/FLxxx), movement (MOV…KT), and whether it’s OBS or FCST.

A Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) is a group of experts responsible for coordinating and disseminating information on atmospheric volcanic ash clouds that may endanger aviation. As at 2019, there are nine Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers located around the world, each one focusing on a particular geographical region. Their analyses are made public in the form of volcanic ash advisories (VAAs), involving expertise analysis of satellite observations, ground and pilot observations and interpretation of ash dispersion models.[1] The worldwide network of Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers was set up by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an agency of the United Nations, as part of the International Airways Volcano Watch (IAVW), an... The operations and development of the IAVW are coordinated by the Meteorology Panel (METP) established by the ICAO Air Navigation Commission.[2][3] The individual VAACs are run as part of national weather forecasting organisations of... the US National Weather Service or the British Met Office.

The centers were set up in the 1990s to improve forecasts of the locations of ash clouds from volcanic eruptions following incidents where commercial aircraft had flown through volcanic ash resulting in the loss... British Airways Flight 9, a Boeing 747, lost power to all four engines in 1982 over Indonesia after an eruption of Mount Galunggung. KLM Flight 867, another Boeing 747, again lost power to all engines in 1989 over Alaska after Mount Redoubt erupted. It was recognised following these and other incidents that volcanic ash was a danger to commercial aviation and that the only way to ensure that there would be no loss of an aircraft was... There are nine VAAC locations each with a defined area to monitor. The centers coordinate with adjacent VAAC, flight control centers within and adjacent to their area as well as meteorological offices within and adjacent to their area of operation.

The areas covered by the VAAC are set either by coordinates or by Flight Information Regions (FIR) that are internationally agreed as part of the IAVW program of the ICAO and the areas that... The Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center is a 365/24/7 operational group that is part of the NOAA/National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)/Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) Satellite Analysis Branch. It provides volcanic activity monitoring along with creating and disseminating Volcanic Ash Advisories (VAA) and Volcanic Ash Graphics (VAG). The center's area of responsibility is the US including Hawaii, the Caribbean, Central America, northern South America, parts of the Pacific Ocean including the Marianas Islands. Data input for VAA and VAG include satellite imagery, model data, reports from State Volcano Observatories (SVO), Meteorological Watch Offices (MWO), many air traffic groups and others. Main users of VAA and VAG products include the aviation community including international and domestic airlines, air traffic control groups, the private sector, and scientific groups like the US Geological Survey (USGS).

This collection of volcanic ash advisories and graphics is organized by each calendar year being contained within its own accession. Specifically: 2007 - accession 0298507 2008 - accession 0299273 2009 - accession 0299677 2010 - accession 0299771 2011 - accession 0299772 2012 - accession 0299770 2013 - accession 0299891 2014 - accession 0299890 2015 -... Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page with download links. Search for data granules belonging to this collection (a granule is the... An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .govA .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Secure .gov websites use HTTPSA lock ( Lock Locked padlock icon ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. US Dept of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service Anchorage Volcanic Ash Advisory Center 6930 Sand lake Road Anchorage, AK 99513 Comments? Questions? Please Contact Us.

This article describes severe weather terminology used by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States, a government agency operating within the Department of Commerce as an arm of the National Oceanic and... The NWS provides weather forecasts, hazardous weather alerts, and other weather-related products for the general public and special interests through a collection of national and regional guidance centers (including the Storm Prediction Center, the... Each Weather Forecast Office is assigned a designated geographic area of responsibility—also known as a county warning area—that are split into numerous forecast zones (encompassing part or all of one county or equivalent thereof)... The article primarily defines precise meanings and associated criteria for nearly all weather warnings, watches, advisories, statements, and other products not associated with hazardous weather issued by the NWS and its sub-organizations (some of... Related weather scales and general weather terms used by the agency are also addressed. The NWS divides severe weather alerts into several types of hazardous/hydrologic events:

The following advisories are issued by the National Weather Service Aviation Weather Center (outside of Alaska) or Alaska Aviation Weather Unit. Atmospheric ash plume advisories/warnings are also issued by the United States Geological Survey (Aviation Color Codes).

Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers National Weather Service

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