Lasers and lidar systems gather data about the position and makeup of Iceland’s volcanic plumes

With Europe’s airport staffers scrambling to send tens of thousands of flights into the air to make up for a week’s worth of halted traffic and stranded travelers thanks to Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano, researchers at the U.K.’s University of Reading are taking the first direct measurements of the ash plume parked over Scotland. [More]