Ash cloud simulation for Mount St. Helens.

Falling ash, even in low concentrations, can disrupt human activities hundreds of miles downwind of a volcano, and drifting clouds of fine ash can endanger jet aircraft thousands of miles away. The most effective way to reduce risk from dispersed volcanic ash is to forecast where it will go and what areas it will affect. A computer model called Ash3d uses current wind speed and directional data along with eruption size parameters to plot the potential path of an ash cloud. This computer simulation shows the path for a hypothetical eruption at Mount St. Helens on January 8, 2015.