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Abstract

Volcanic eruptions pose a significant threat to humans. Near real-time satellite observations of ash and SO₂ are critical for improving situational awareness and mitigating the risk of volcanic plumes (i.e., ash and SO₂). This study focuses on combining LEO and GEO satellite observations to improve the detection of volcanic plumes, as part of an early warning system for aviation stakeholders and research scientists known as the “Support to Aviation Control Service” (SACS, http://sacs.aeronomie.be). Infrared and ultraviolet hyperspectral sensors onboard polar orbiting LEO platforms (e.g., IASI and TROPOMI) perform selective detection of volcanic ash and SO₂ (column and height). The disadvantage is the limited number of overpasses per day over the same region. The GEO imagers have the advantage of providing observations with a high temporal/spatial resolution. RGB composite is commonly used by the observatories and the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres. The inherent limitation by using such products is the lack of discrimination between desert dust, volcanic ash and convective clouds. Two covariance-based retrieval algorithms (COBRA) have been developed and applied on SEVIRI data to detect 1) mineral dusts and 2) volcanic SO₂. Results will be shown for recent events. In case of detection, SACS system sends email notifications and creates alert data products in homogenised format, providing key information to users (i.e., the location of alert pixels, gridded data, mass loading).