4 ms·

What does "Red" mean exactly here? All flights are grounded/need to avoid this airspace?

goodcanadian 8y ago
All flights should always avoid volcanic ash. I don't know exactly what the colour scale means (probably higher particle density or altitude or extent), but any aircraft would be advised to avoid the plume. In this case, it is not currently interfering with usual flight paths, but the bulletin indicates that the wind direction is expected to change, so I would say it means be advised and monitor the situation.
mhandley 8y ago
The definitions are here: http://www.wovo.org/aviation-colour-codes.html http://www.wovo.org/aviation-colour-codes.html Red means either "Eruption is forecast to be imminent with significant emission of ash into the atmosphere likely." or, "Eruption is underway with significant emission of ash into the atmosphere." In this case, the latter.
jcranmer 8y ago
Kilauea has been at Orange for the past several years--the ash clouds that were generated were small, highly localized, and not really a threat to aviation. On April 30, the erupting fissure (Pu'u 'O'o) suddenly had its floor collapse, cutting off the main escape path of lava. At the same time, there was a massive surge in magma underneath the summit, which shortly thereafter shifted down the flank. The lava lake at the summit is now a crater over 300 meters deep. This means that, in addition to rocks falling into the crater and subsequently being ejected into the air in the form of fine ash, water is also intruding into the column, which raises the distinct possibility of a high pressure steam explosion. The alert level was changed because there is now a persistent, high-level ash cloud that is traveling some distance. It's not on the same scale as Eyjafjallajökull (the volcano that shut down European airspace), but it is big enough to start wrapping around the Hawaiian islands.

All flights should always avoid volcanic ash. I don't know exactly what the colour scale means (probably higher particle density or altitude or extent), but any aircraft would be advised to avoid the plume. In this case, it is not currently interfering with usual flight paths, but the bulletin indicates that the wind direction is expected to change, so I would say it means be advised and monitor the situation.

mhandley 8y ago

The definitions are here: http://www.wovo.org/aviation-colour-codes.html http://www.wovo.org/aviation-colour-codes.html Red means either "Eruption is forecast to be imminent with significant emission of ash into the atmosphere likely." or, "Eruption is underway with significant emission of ash into the atmosphere." In this case, the latter.

jcranmer 8y ago

Kilauea has been at Orange for the past several years--the ash clouds that were generated were small, highly localized, and not really a threat to aviation. On April 30, the erupting fissure (Pu'u 'O'o) suddenly had its floor collapse, cutting off the main escape path of lava. At the same time, there was a massive surge in magma underneath the summit, which shortly thereafter shifted down the flank. The lava lake at the summit is now a crater over 300 meters deep. This means that, in addition to rocks falling into the crater and subsequently being ejected into the air in the form of fine ash, water is also intruding into the column, which raises the distinct possibility of a high pressure steam explosion. The alert level was changed because there is now a persistent, high-level ash cloud that is traveling some distance. It's not on the same scale as Eyjafjallajökull (the volcano that shut down European airspace), but it is big enough to start wrapping around the Hawaiian islands.