ETH Zuerich performed LIDAR and special aerosol-detecting balloon measurements:
http://www.ethlife.ethz.ch/archive_a...g_l3.jpg?hires
http://www.ethlife.ethz.ch/archive_a...llon.jpg?hires
Amazing similarity to the data obtained in UK although the distance to Iceland is 1360 nm.. Looks like well defined, relatively thin aerosol layers that descent over time.
The lead scientist was quoted saying that it smelled like the exhaust of a steam engine when perfoming a measurement flight during the weekend.
Maybe a web of observation posts may in the future be able to detect contaminated layers real time and allow for flight level based avoidance. Certainly distance/dispersal alone does not seem to suffice.