A computer model designed by University of Hawaii at Manoa researchers to predict the movement of vog on the Big Island is the subject of a study published this month in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
A computer model designed by University of Hawaii at Manoa researchers to predict the movement of vog on the Big Island is the subject of a study published this month in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
Under the leadership of Steve Businger and in collaboration with researchers at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, scientists with the UH-Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science developed a computer model that measures the amount of sulfur dioxide emitted by Kilauea Volcano and combines that information with predictions on the prevailing winds to forecast the movement of vog across the state.
“Comparisons between the model output and vog observations show what users of the vog model forecasts have already guessed — that online model data and maps depicting the future location and dispersion of the vog plume over time are sufficiently accurate to provide very useful guidance, especially to those among us who suffer allergies or respiratory conditions that make us sensitive to vog,” said Businger.