Development of a Novel Volcanic Ash Aggregation Scheme implemented in the WRF-Chem Model in Support of GOES-R

The grant will cover two project goals, both aimed at augmenting the development, validation and use of the joint NASA/NOAA GOES-R Volcanic Ash Detection and Height product. First, we will design, implement and test a novel ash aggregation subroutine for the WRF-Chem model, thus greatly enhancing its ash forecasting capabilities. Second, we will study the degree to which WRF-Chem and the new NASA baseline volcanic product agree on the dispersion of volcanic ash in efforts to assess the accuracy and limitations of this new product. Discrepancies between model runs and the baseline product will be discussed with NASA and NOAA developers in efforts to improve the accuracy of volcanic ash detection by the GOES-R platform.