Using hosted payloads on iridium NEXT to provide global warning of volcanic ash

The Iridium NEXT satellite constellation has designed space to accommodate hosted payloads that provided not only access to space but also allow the user to leverage Iridium's real time communication capability. This is ideal for small sensor payloads and mission areas that require real-time data. The detection of volcanic ash is one such application, meeting a critical need of warning aircraft on the location of volcanic ash. To this end, we have described a system concept that uses small lightweight sensors the fit within the Iridium NEXT hosted payload allocation and provide critical data needed to predict the location and movement of volcanic ash in the atmosphere.