Aircraft volcanic ash system in testing

MESSINA, Sicily, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Research aircraft are flying through the ash clouds of Mount Etna in Italy to test a volcanic ash warning system for commercial airliners, scientists said.

The system uses an infrared camera intended to give pilots 10 minutes notice of encroaching volcanic ash clouds, NewScientist.com reported Monday.

The technology is designed to save airlines the millions of dollars lost when hundreds of aircraft were grounded following an Icelandic volcanic eruption in spring 2010 that sent a plume of ash over much of Europe.

With volcanic Etna in Sicily currently emitting plumes of ash, it's a perfect time to test the camera, dubbed the Airborne Volcanic Object Imaging Detector or AVOID, researchers said.

"Etna emits large amounts of gases like sulfur dioxide, and frequently has explosive eruptions that emit volcanic ash particles to the atmosphere," Adam Durant of the Norwegian Institute for Air Research said. "So AVOID simultaneously makes measurements in different regions of the thermal infrared spectrum to distinguish ash from sulfur dioxide and regular clouds."

The infrared sensing technology has already taken up by European budget airline EasyJet, NewScientist.com reported.