2012-06-10

Ash- and dust storms

The last couple of days there has been a lot of Particulate Matter (PM) in the east, and also in the Reykjavik area. This is clear from recent headlines: “Ekki hægt að fara út fyrir svifryki (Not possible to be outside because of PM)” og “Velti bíl í ösku á Skeiðarársandi (Car overturns as it drives into a ash on the road)”.

In Fljótshverfi (south of Vatnajökull, see map) the concentration increased rapidly on 8 June, and was over 100 micro-g per cubic meter around 10, and was very high , over 1000 micro-g  per cubic meter around 17:00, but then decreased after that. Stations in Reykjavik showed the ash arriving later in the evening, around 20:30.

On 9 June there were high levels of PM in the Reykjavik area, both due to the ash from east, and also possibly from a dust storm from Landeyjasandur (see image).

The image should be a little bigger if clicked on Smile

20120608_10_Svifryk