Iceland Volcano: Lightning Adds Flash to Ash... ..

White-Hot Show at Iceland Volcano
A blast of white-hot lightning crackles over Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano on Sunday. Clouds of volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajokull have snarled European air traffic for nearly a week.
National Geographic Your Shot submitter Peter Vancoillie took the photograph from about 18 miles (30 kilometers) away from the volcanic lightning storm, which not "unlike a regular old thunderstorm," said Martin Uman, a lightning expert at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

The same ingredients are present: water droplets, ice, and possibly hail—all interacting with each other and with particles, in this case ash from the eruptions, to cause electrical charging, Uman said.

The volcanic-lightning pictures are 'really very sensational,' Uman said. 'Somebody ought to be up there with an HD movie camera—it's ready for the IMAX theater.'

Purple Bolts at Iceland Volcano
Italian photographer and scientist Marco Fulle flew at sunset on Sunday over Iceland's erupting Eyjafjallajokull volcano to capture this picture of purple lightning bolts streaking through the sky.
Much of the lightning generated by the Iceland volcano is better termed long sparks, said the University of Florida's Uman. Those may include a new type of lightning recently found over an Alaska volcano.
It's unknown how such sparks form, though one possibility is that electrically charged silica-an ingredient of magma-interacts with the atmosphere when it bursts out of Earth's crust, Steve McNutt of the Alaska Volcano Observatory said in February.

Fire, Ice, and Lightning
Fiery lava mixes with blue ash and golden lightning over the erupting Eyjafjallajokull volcano in an April 18, 2010, picture.
The Iceland volcano's lightning is probably creating distinct symphony of sounds, said the University of Florida's Uman. For instance, small sparks of about 30 feet (9 meters) to about 300 yards (91 meters) make sounds like rifle shots, while the miles-long bolts produce the deep, familiar rumbling we associate with thunderstorms, he explained.

Stormy Mix at Iceland Volcano
Pictured Sunday, lightning at the Eyjafjallajokull volcano branches off in many directions-an interesting phenomenon, according to the University of Florida's Uman.
Every bolt has a direction that it travels, Uman explained: A spark begins in electrically charged spot and then travels either up, down, or sideways until it reaches an oppositely charged area.

Lava and Lightning in Iceland
Spurts of lava mix with lightning over Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano on Sunday.
National Geographic Your Shot submitter Oli Haukur Myrdal captured the electrifying light show. All types of lightning, particularly volcanic lightning, are still largely mysteries to scientists, University of Florida's Uman said.
Since people can't easily get inside thunder and lightning storms, no one knows exactly how they form, he said. However, scientists can install instruments near volcanoes' vents to measure certain data, such as the lightning-detection devices that scientists are installing right now in Iceland, he said.

Flash and Ash at Volcano
Lightning pierces the erupting volcano's ash cloud in a National Geographic Your Shot photograph taken by Olivier Vandeginste on Sunday.
Inhaling the tiny pieces of glassy sand and dust in the cloud can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, say experts who advise Europeans to stay indoors when the ash begins to fall. Finer particles can also penetrate deep into the lungs and cause breathing problems, particularly among those with respiratory issues like asthma or emphysema.
But if people could witness the volcanic lightning safely, it would be an incredible experience, Uman said.
'Everyone would want to see that,' Uman said. 'It's like going to see aurora borealis near the North Pole-it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.'

Iceland Volcano Erupts, Under Ice This Time

Iceland Volcano Spews Giant Ash Clouds

Volcanic Ash Halts Much of N.Europe Air Travel..

A huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano caused further air travel chaos across Europe on Friday on a scale not seen since the Sept. 11 attacks, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded.

About 17,000 flights were expected to be cancelled on Friday due to the dangers posed by clouds of volcanic ash from Iceland, aviation officials said, with airports in Britain, France, Germany, and across Europe closed until at least Saturday.

"I would think Europe was probably experiencing its greatest disruption to air travel since 9/11," said a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority, Britain's aviation regulator.

"In terms of closure of airspace, this is worse than after 9/11. The disruption is probably larger than anything we've probably seen."

Following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on Washington and New York, U.S. airspace was closed for three days and European airlines were forced to halt all transatlantic services.

Vulcanologists say the ash could cause problems to air traffic for up to 6 months if the eruption continues, but even if it is short-lived the financial impact on airlines could be significant.

The fallout hit airlines' shares on Friday with Lufthansa, British Airways, Air Berlin, Air France-KLM, Iberia and Ryanair down between 0.8 and 2.2 percent.

The International Air Transport Association said only days ago that airlines were just coming out of recession.

The volcano began erupting on Wednesday for the second time in a month from below the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, hurling a plume of ash 6 to 11 km (4 to 7 miles) into the atmosphere.

Volcanic ash contains tiny particles of glass and pulverised rock that can damage engines and airframes.

In 1982 a British Airways jumbo jet lost power in all its engines when it flew into an ash cloud over Indonesia, gliding towards the ground before it was able to restart its engines.

The incident prompted the aviation industry to rethink the way it prepared for ash clouds, resulting in international contingency plans which were activated on Thursday.

Of the 28,000 flights that usually travel through European airspace on an average day, European aviation control agency Eurocontrol said it expected only 11,000 to operate on Friday while only about a third of transatlantic flights were arriving.

Eurocontrol warned problems would continue for at least another 24 hours.



AIRSPACE CLOSED

Britain's air traffic control body said all English airspace would be closed until 2400 GMT on Friday although certain flights from Northern Ireland and Scottish airports were being allowed to take off until 1800 GMT.

"When the experts give us the all clear we'll get the operation back up and running," Paul Haskins, head of safety at National Air Traffic Service, told BBC radio.

"We're working with both the Civil Aviation Authority and the Met Office (weather officials) to understand what parameters would need to be in place before it is safe to allow aircraft to operate again."

There were no flights from London's Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, which handles some 180,000 passengers a day, while officials at Germany's Frankfurt airport, Europe's second busiest, said flights would be suspended from 0600 GMT.

Around 2,000 people slept overnight at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, a spokewoman said, adding they did not expect airspace in the Netherlands to reopen soon.

Eurocontrol said airspace was closed over Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, the north of France including all Paris airports, and at airports in northern Germany and parts of Poland. Northern Czech airspace was also closed.

Polish officials said if the disruption continued, it might force a delay in Sunday's funeral for President Lech Kaczynski and his wife who were killed in a plane crash last Saturday.

Airlines across Asia and the Middle East have also cancelled or delayed flights to most European destinations.

The air problems have proved a boon for rail companies. All 58 Eurostar trains between Britain and Europe were operating full, carrying some 46,500 passengers, and a spokeswoman said they would consider adding services if problems persisted.

The Association of British Insurers said volcanic eruptions were not always covered by travel insurance for cancellation and delay, but some airlines issued statements confirming they would refund fares or change flights.

The UK's Health Protection Agency said it expected a small amount of the volcanic plume with low levels of sulphur dioxide would reach ground level in Britain later on Friday.

"This is not expected to be a significant threat to public health," it said in a statement.

(Reporting by London, Dublin, Paris, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Brussels, Geneva and Copenhagen newsrooms; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)