Iceland volcanic dust carries electricity

The ash from the Eyjafjallajakull volcano in Iceland in April brought a large amount of electricity.

The giant ash cloud is created by Eyjafjallajakull volcano in Iceland on April 15.Photo: National Geographic.

A volcano in the Eyjafjallajakull glacier in Iceland operates on April 13. Dust ash flew across Europe, causing aviation operations to be paralyzed for days and creating dawn-red dawn. Many photographs were taken that showed the flash from Eyjafjallajakull volcano. Scientists believe that lightning is created by rubble particles rubbing against each other.

Livescience said, in mid-April, Joseph Ulanowski - a scientist at the University of Hertfordshire University of Science and Technology Research - and colleagues studied dust clouds from Eyjafjallajakull volcano with a hot air balloon. special. It is capable of assessing the size of micro particles in the air - like volcanic ash - and the charge of ash.

'The detailed characteristics of volcanic ash - such as particle size, density and charge in the dust cloud - are important information to predict the impact of ash on aircraft , ' Harrison said.

When Eyjafjallajakull erupted, scientists quickly moved to a location near the city of Stranraer, where a balloon was waiting. Hot air balloons fly to a height of about 4,000 m to test a cloud of dust with a thickness of about 600 m.

The team found that particles of charged dust are mostly located deep inside the cloud, not at the edges. This is in contrast to electric vapor clouds.

The results show that volcanic energy - about 1,200 km from the cloud - and the weather conditions are not related to the location of charged particles in the cloud.

Scientists from the University of London, England, warned that electricity in volcanic ash could cause catastrophes for aircraft and passengers.

'Charged particles can interfere with aircraft radio waves. If they get into the cockpit, they can cause danger to people and aircraft systems , 'a University of London report said.

A number of studies conducted with weather balloons last year in Kuwait and the west coast of Africa show that desert dust can also generate overhead electricity.