Israel’s Elbit Systems has carried out a ground trial of its enhanced-vision system modified to detect volcanic ash.
The company’s ClearVision product is intended to provide warning of ash from a distance of 100km.
It uses technology developed by Norwegian remote-sensing specialist Nicarnica Aviation, which has conducted airborne trials of similar systems with EasyJet.
The technology gained prominence following the 2010 eruption of an Icelandic volcano which resulted in severe disruption across Europe for several days.
Elbit says its own trials shows the enhanced-vision system is capable of “unprecedented” ash detection.
The co-operation between the two companies has been funded in part by the Eurostars scheme, in which the European Commission is a participant, developed to support innovation from small enterprises.
Elbit says the ground trials are a “significant milestone” in the project, which will allow aircraft to detect ash in “sufficient time” to avoid affected regions.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
