---
title: "Volcanic ash advisories (Washington VAAC)"
method: GET
path: "/api/v2/hazards/volcanic-ash"
tags: ["Disasters & Hazards"]
---

# Volcanic ash advisories (Washington VAAC)

`GET /api/v2/hazards/volcanic-ash`

Current volcanic ash advisories from the NOAA/NESDIS Washington VAAC. Each advisory carries the volcano summit, an observed ash-cloud polygon plus up to three forecast polygons (+6/+12/+18 h) with flight-level bands (in metrics.ash_clouds). Severity is Sugra-computed from the aviation colour code / ash presence. Filter by bounding box (on the volcano summit). Sugra retransmits; it is not an official flight-decision source.

## Query parameters

- `min_lat` number, nullable — Bounding-box south edge (on the volcano summit).
- `max_lat` number, nullable
- `min_lon` number, nullable
- `max_lon` number, nullable
- `limit` integer — Maximum advisories returned (most recently issued first).

## Response `200`

Successful Response

- EnvelopeVolcanicAshFeed
  - `data` VolcanicAshFeed, required
    - `query` VolcanicAshQuery, required
      - `min_lat` number, nullable
      - `max_lat` number, nullable
      - `min_lon` number, nullable
      - `max_lon` number, nullable
      - `limit` integer, required
    - `total_matched` integer, required — Advisories matching the filters BEFORE the limit.
    - `count` integer, required
    - `events` VolcanicAshEvent[], required
      - `schema_version` string, required
      - `event_id` string, required
      - `event_type` string, required
      - `source_event_time` string, nullable
      - `updated_time` string, nullable
      - `geometry` HazardGeometry, required
        - `lat` number, nullable — Latitude, decimal degrees (WGS84). Null if the source omitted a location.
        - `lon` number, nullable — Longitude, decimal degrees (WGS84).
        - `depth_km` number, nullable — Hypocentre depth, kilometres.
      - `area` object, nullable — Observed ash-cloud extent as a GeoJSON Polygon.
      - `place` string, nullable
      - `metrics` VolcanicAshMetrics, required
        - `volcano_name` string, nullable
        - `advisory_number` string, nullable
        - `report_status` string, nullable — NORMAL | CORRECTION | AMENDMENT.
        - `colour_code` string, nullable — Aviation colour code (often not given for non-US volcanoes).
        - `information_source` string, nullable
        - `eruption_details` string, nullable
        - `vaac` string, nullable
        - `ash_clouds` AshCloud[] — Observed + up to three forecast ash-cloud timesteps.
          - `kind` string, required — OBS (observed/estimated) or FCST (forecast +6/+12/+18h).
          - `phenomenon_time` string, nullable — Valid time of this ash-cloud timestep, ISO 8601 UTC.
          - `fl_lower` string, nullable — Lower flight level, or GND.
          - `fl_upper` string, nullable — Upper flight level.
          - `fl_upper_uom` string, nullable
          - `polygon` object, nullable — Ash-cloud extent as a GeoJSON Polygon (lon-lat).
      - `severity` HazardSeverity, required — CAP-aligned severity block (OASIS Common Alerting Protocol vocabulary).
        - `severity` string, required — CAP severity: Extreme | Severe | Moderate | Minor | Unknown.
        - `certainty` string, required — CAP certainty. Earthquakes are Observed (the event happened).
        - `urgency` string, required — CAP urgency. Earthquakes are Past (an observed event, not a forward alert).
        - `derivation` string — 'native' (read verbatim from a CAP-native source) or 'sugra-computed' (derived by Sugra - carries no sovereign brand-shield).
      - `cap` object, nullable — null - VAA is not CAP-native.
      - `source` HazardEventSource, required
        - `institution` string, required
        - `tier` string, required — Sovereign (S) - named publicly.
        - `event_url` string, nullable — Upstream event page for full detail.
      - `disclaimer` string, required
    - `attribution` HazardAttributionSet, required
      - `sources` HazardSourceAttribution[] — Every sovereign source that contributed events.
        - `registry_key` string, required
        - `source_name` string, required
        - `licence` string, required
        - `citation` string, required
        - `disclaimer` string, required
      - `effective_reexport` string, required — Most-restrictive re-export verdict across the sources.
    - `disclaimer` string, required
    - `upstream` object
  - `meta` SugraMeta, required — Metadata attached to every /api/v1/* response envelope.
    - `endpoint` string, required — Requested endpoint path.
    - `data_time` string, required — ISO 8601 UTC timestamp of the source data, not of the request.
    - `response_time` string, required — ISO 8601 UTC timestamp when this response was produced.
    - `provider` string, required — API name and version.
    - `source` string, nullable — Identifier of the primary upstream source used for this response.
    - `attribution` string, nullable — Human-readable attribution mandated by an upstream source (e.g. a securities regulator or self-regulatory organization). Present only on responses whose source requires the owner and source to be clearly identified. Do not remove or alter it when using the response.
    - `fallback_used` boolean, nullable — True when the primary source failed and a fallback produced the data.
    - `fallback_chain` string[], nullable — Ordered list of sources attempted, in the order they were tried.
    - `cached` boolean, nullable — True when this response was served from the internal cache.
    - `stale` boolean, nullable — True when the cached response was returned after the upstream rate-limited or errored. Clients can use this to detect degraded data.

## Other responses

- `401` — Missing or invalid `x-api-key` header.
- `422` — Validation Error
- `429` — Daily rate limit exceeded. Check `X-RateLimit-Reset` for the next window.
- `503` — Upstream source is temporarily unavailable. Retry after a short delay.

---

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