Volcanic emission estimates from the inversion of ACTRIS lidar observations and their use for quantitative dispersion modeling

Anna Kampouri, Vassilis Amiridis, Thanasis Georgiou, Stavros Solomos, Anna Gialitaki, Maria Tsichla, Michael Rennie, Simona Scollo, and Prodromos Zanis

Data sets

Aeolus L2A wind data ECMWF https://apps.ecmwf.int/mars-catalogue/?class=rd&expver=hkv

PollyXT lidar data at PANGEA station ACTRIS https://polly.tropos.de/calendar/location/38

Annual Collection – Antikythera (AKY): Aerosol Optical and Microphysical Properties ACTRIS EARLINET https://github.com/actris-ares/actris-earlinet-2024_annual_collection/tree/main

Model code and software

akampouri/Volcanic-emission-estimates_Kampouri_et_al.2025: Volcanic emission estimates from the inversion of ACTRIS lidar observations and their use for quantitative dispersion modeling Anna Kampouri https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15805552

Weather Research & Forecasting Model (WRF) UCAR https://doi.org/10.5065/D6MK6B4K

FLEXPART-WRF code Adam Dingwell https://git.nilu.no/flexpart/flexpart-wrf

Short summary

This study proposes a novel inverse modeling framework coupled with remote sensing data for improving volcanic ash dispersion forecasts, essential for aviation safety. By integrating FLEXPART dispersion model outputs with ground-based ACTRIS lidar observations, the approach estimates Etna's volcanic particle emissions and highlights a significant enhancement in the forecast accuracy.