Since the first closure of British airspace on Thursday 15 April, FAAM, its partner organisations and the BAe-146-301 large Atmospheric Research Aircraft have all been very busy.

 

Initial flying was by ARSF's Dornier 228 on 15 and 16 April, using some FAAM staff and instruments. Very little was seen on 15 April, but particularly using PCASP and CPC the 16 April flight over the North Sea and East Anglia out as far as the Netherlands FIR boundary we were able to see numerous layers of ash and sulphate chemicals. This flight in particular led to several television appearances of FAAM staff, including Newsnight and Bang Goes the Theory.

 

The aircraft were stood down on Saturday 17 April, but a lot of work and planning went on - including participation in the first of CAA's daily teleconferences on volcanic ash and airworthiness.

 

On Sunday 18 April, the Dornier flew again from Cranfield with a mixed ARSF/FAAM crew and instruments again. On the morning of Sunday 18 April, Met Office ask FAAM to get the ARA ready to fly, and by lunchtime numerous FAAM, DFL, Avalon and BAe staff were involved in this.

 

On Monday 19 April, the Dornier flew again from Cranfield.

 

On Tuesday 20 April flight ARA flight B521 flew from Cranfield, particularly using the Met Office downward facing LIDAR. This was co-ordinated with a further ARSF flight and between them a great deal of new data was obtained.

 

On Wednesday 21 April, the ARA flew two further science flights. B522 was a science transit over the central UK between Cranfield and Prestwick, then B523 was a further science flight to the edge of the Reykjavik FIR, and also in co-ordination with the Dornier 228. The aircraft and crew then overnighted at Prestwick. This was on the day that airspace started to be released, but we were still able to operate fairly fully thanks to co-ordination from London and Prestwick Air Traffic Control Centres.

 

On Thursday 22 April, two further science flights were flown - B524 was over northern UK airspace, whilst B525 was a science transit back to Cranfield further investigating ash layers over the central UK.

 

Both the Dornier and ARA were then stood down as the ash plume moved away from UK airspace.

 

At time of writing (midday Tuesday 4 May) the ARA is again airborne for flight B526 which is a high altitude flight northwards up the west of the British Isles, and southwards down the centre of the UK mainland. This will be using a combination of LIDAR and radiometers to further characterise the ash plume. A similar flight, B527,is anticipated for Wednesday 5 May.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a few notes of clarification:

 

- FAAM is a joint-owned organisation of the Met Office and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

 

- FAAM is based at Cranfield University,but it is not part of Cranfield University.

 

- ARSF is part of NERC, which also owns the Dornier 228 research aircraft. Whilst working in close co-ordination with the Met Office, it isn't the Met Office's aircraft. Nor is ARSF managed by FAAM. That said, we've all been working very closely together, and the Dornier was flying with a mixed ARSF/FAAM/Met Office crew, and with both ARSF and FAAM instruments on board.

 

- National Civil Contingency arrangements, administered by the Met Office and UK Cabinet Office, have been responsible for tasking FAAM's work in relation to the current volcanic ash emergebcy, and this continues to be the case.

 

- Initial press contact concerning FAAM's activities should please be to the NERC Press Office in Swindon. They will then co-ordinate with FAAM and the Met Office concerning information, interviews, and suchlike. TV companies - please be aware that we have received numerous requests to fly a journalist on board a research aircraft, at present this isn't possible.

 

- All of the data collected by the UK, and to a fair extent other European, scientists about the ash plumes are being collated by the British Atmospheric Data Centre, orBADC. This will be made available as quickly as possible, but does need to be collated and checked before being made, otherwise the data may be misleading. For data access, researchers and others should contact BADC directly, not FAAM.

 

- Both the Dornier 228 and BAe-146-301 are aircraft, or aeroplanes. A "plane" is a woodworking tool, or a surface defined by three points in a mathematical equation.