This presentation will describe plans for enhancing the Volcanic Ash Coordination Tool (VACT) that NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL) recently implemented at the Anchorage Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), and Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU). The key benefit of VACT is that it enables forecasters to simultaneously view identical displays (i.e., shared awareness) of critical information and collaborate in real-time to generate a suite of fully-consistent advisories and forecasts for volcanic ash. The FAA Aviation Weather Research Program and NWS are funding our work.

Among the planned enhancements to VACT are: 1) additional displays of observations made by satellites (including polar orbiters); 2) prototype volcanic ash products developed by the FAA Product Development Team for Oceanic Weather; 3) output generated by volcanic ash dispersion models; and 4) observations made by radars. We also plan to develop a software tool that will enable CWSUs to efficiently generate Center Weather Advisories for volcanic ash.

In addition to enhancing VACT capabilities, we plan to implement VACT in 2004 at the Washington VAAC and its supporting meteorological watch office. We also will explore implementing VACT in other countries if those countries express interest.

A key motivating factor for developing VACT was an analysis by Simpson et al. (2002) of the operational response to the eruption of Mount Cleveland, Alaska in 2001. They found that SIGMETs generated for the Anchorage Oceanic FIR and Oakland Oceanic FIR (which are adjacent) called for plume heights that were very different. In addition to enabling VAACs to generate advisories that are fully consistent, VACT will enable regular coordination/response exercises to be carried out, a recommendation made by Simpson et al.

Alaska is ideal for the initial version of VACT because of its proximity to North Pacific air routes (through which about 50,000 flights traverse each year) and 100 active volcanoes (41 in Alaska, 29 in Kamchatka, and 30 in the Kurile Islands). During the last two decades, more than 100 jet aircraft have sustained damage totaling more than $250 million dollars due to volcanic ash. At least seven encounters with ash have caused temporary engine failure--with three aircraft losing power from all engines. Accurate, consistent, and timely forecasts of ash are critical for safe and efficient operation of aircraft.

VACT is based on FSL's FX-Connect (FX-C), a highly-interactive Java-based workstation that enables participants at various locations to view and interact with the same data in real-time. FX-C: 1) provides a full-suite of meteorological observations and operational forecasts; 2) can ingest and display experimental products; 3) can ingest and display local data; 4) has a full-suite of workstation tools that enable users to interact efficiently with displays; and 5) can reside inside or outside of operational firewalls. FX-C is currently implemented at: 1) Kennedy Space Center to support weather briefings for rocket launches; 2) NOAA Spaceflight Meteorology Group to support weather briefings for space shuttle landings; and 3) National Weather Service SE River Forecast Center to support weather briefings to weather emergency managers.