Since its eruption in early June, several NASA satellites have captured images of the ash plume from the eruption of the Chilean Volcano called Puyehue-Cordón Caulle and have tracked it around the world. NASA has collected them in the NASA Goddard FLICKR image gallery that shows the progression of the plume around the southern hemisphere.
Three different satellite image flyovers were combined from NASA's Aqua satellite to show the journey of the volcanic ash from Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano as it traveled across the southern Pacific Ocean, past New Zealand (at left), on June 14, 2011.
Credit: NASA Goddard/MODIS Rapid Response, Jeff Schmaltz
The Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex includes the Puyehue volcano, the Cordón Caulle rift zone and the Cordillera Nevada caldera.
One of the instruments that provided daily imagery of the ash plume is called the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) that flies on both NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. Other satellites have provided images and animations of the plume such as the GOES-11 satellite, which is operated by NOAA and whose images and animations are created by the NASA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Perhaps the greatest danger posed by the erupting Puyehue-Cordón Volcano Complex in Chile is the thick layer of ashbeing deposited east of the volcano. This image, taken on June 13, 2011, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite, shows ash on the ground and a large plume streaming east from the volcano.
The pale tan coating of ash on the ground has been accumulating since June 4, when the eruption started. The Chilean Service of Minerals and Mining (SERNAGEOMIN) warned that when winter rains begin to fall in the coming weeks, the loose ash could create dangerous landslides and lahars, particularly in ash-clogged river valleys in the Andes Mountains.
The image above also shows a large plume of volcanic ash blowing about 800 kilometers east and then northeast over Argentina. The plume has disrupted air traffic as far away as New Zealand.
Credit: MODIS/June 13
The new NASA Goddard FLICKR image gallery contains a series of MODIS images from the day the Puyehue volcano erupted on June 4 to June 14.The images are shown in date order in the gallery and show the ash plume circling the southern hemisphere.
The image gallery focuses on the data from the MODIS instrument on Aqua and Terra to provide continuity and ease of identification of the ash plume. The plume can appear differently to other NASA satellites that look at the atmosphere using other parts of the spectrum other than visible and infrared light.
The gallery begins on June 4, 2011 when a fissure opened in the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex. The MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured a natural-color image that showed the ash 45,000 feet (14,000 meters) high. As the plume shot up and blew southeast toward Argentina, heavier particles fell to the ground. According to the Buenos Aires Herald, the border town of Bariloc, Argentina reported as much as a foot (30 centimeters) of ash on the ground.
A week after it first began erupting, Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex continued to emit a steady stream of ash. This false-color satellite image shows the eruption’s ash plume on the morning of June 11, 2011. At the time, the Joint Air Force & Army Weather Information Network reported that the ash rose to an altitude of 23,000 feet (7,000 meters).
In this image, low-angled sunlight (10 days before the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere) illuminates the north side of the plume, while the south side is in deep shadow. The ash colum rises from a fissure about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of Puyehue Volcano. The high-altitude lakes to the west of the eruption site are bright blue (likely from ash suspended in the water) and partially covered by floating pumice, a type of volcanic rock permeated with gas bubbles. Ash-covered snow is gray, and vegetation is red. The image was acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) aboard the Terra satellite.
Credit: NASA Goddard/MODIS Rapid Response. Image June 14
In addition to large amounts of ash on the ground in Chile and Argentina, rainfall poses another problem. Chile's National Geology and Mining Service noted that rainfall on loose ash could trigger landslides and lahars, especially in the Andes Mountains where river valleys are clogged with ash.
According to Agence France-Presse, air travel from South America to Australia has been adversely affected. NASA confirmed the ash locations in satellite imagery over New Zealand, South Africa, and Tasmania this week.
The eruption at Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex sent clouds of ash high into the atmosphere, above the weather that usually breaks up such plumes. The CALIPSO satellite recorded the plume 15 kilometers (50,000 feet) above the Earth on the second day of the eruption, and the volcano continues to push ash into the atmosphere. At these high altitudes, the ash entered the jetstream and blew quickly eastward.
By June 13, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite acquired these images, a concentrated plume was visible more than half a world away over Australia and New Zealand. The top image shows the ash plume over southern Australia and the Tasman Sea, while the lower image provides a view farther east over New Zealand and the South Pacific Ocean.
The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand warned pilots that the ash cloud was between 20,000 and 35,000 feet (6 to 11 kilometers), the cruising level for many aircraft. Because volcanic ash can damage a jet engine, flight traffic in parts of Australia and New Zealand was canceled or diverted to lower altitudes.
Credit: MODIS/ Image acquired June 13
On June 10, Aqua's MODIS showed winds pushed the plume east and northeast over Argentina. The next day, winds twisted the ash plume like a pretzel over Argentina. By June 12, Terra's MODIS instrument saw the volcano's ash plume blowing over the southwestern tip of South Africa on its way around the world, while Aqua's MODIS captured an image of the volcano that showed its plume being drawn into a low pressure system in the Atlantic Ocean.
The next day, June 13, NASA's Aqua satellite provided an image of the light brown ash plume crossing over New Zealand and Tasmania. Tasmania is an Australian island and state located 150 miles south of Australia. Later in the day Aqua's MODIS instrument showed the ash plume pouring out of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano and traveling east and northeast. The height of the plume varied during the day with the intensity of the eruption. Plumes were measured between 2.5 and 5 miles (4 and 8 kilometers) high at different times of the day.
On June 14, NASA satellite imagery from three different overpasses was pieced together by Jeff Schmaltz of the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA Goddard. NASA's Aqua satellite overpasses created a mosaic of the volcanic ash plume traversing the South Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, MODIS on the Terra satellite captured another look at what was happening at the volcano. At 15:15 UTC (11:15 a.m. EDT), winds continued pushing the plume east and southeast into the Southern Atlantic Ocean. The ash plume was reaching as high as five miles (8 kilometers) into the atmosphere.
As air traffic continues to be affected in Chile, Argentina, southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and even Australia, the news from Chile's National Geology and Mining Service was that a possible return to increased eruption activity.
NASA continues to generate daily images of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle's plume over Chile and the rest of the southern hemisphere. NASA's Earth Observatory, housed at NASA Goddard, posts new images of volcanic eruptions at their Natural Hazards web page: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/category.php?cat_id=12.
For NASA Goddard FLICKR Gallery of images of Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano eruption from June 4 to June 14, 2011:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/sets/72157626837498837/
The Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex includes the Puyehue volcano, the Cordón Caulle rift zone and the Cordillera Nevada caldera.
One of the instruments that provided daily imagery of the ash plume is called the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) that flies on both NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. Other satellites have provided images and animations of the plume such as the GOES-11 satellite, which is operated by NOAA and whose images and animations are created by the NASA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Perhaps the greatest danger posed by the erupting Puyehue-Cordón Volcano Complex in Chile is the thick layer of ashbeing deposited east of the volcano. This image, taken on June 13, 2011, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite, shows ash on the ground and a large plume streaming east from the volcano.
The pale tan coating of ash on the ground has been accumulating since June 4, when the eruption started. The Chilean Service of Minerals and Mining (SERNAGEOMIN) warned that when winter rains begin to fall in the coming weeks, the loose ash could create dangerous landslides and lahars, particularly in ash-clogged river valleys in the Andes Mountains.
The image above also shows a large plume of volcanic ash blowing about 800 kilometers east and then northeast over Argentina. The plume has disrupted air traffic as far away as New Zealand.
The new NASA Goddard FLICKR image gallery contains a series of MODIS images from the day the Puyehue volcano erupted on June 4 to June 14.The images are shown in date order in the gallery and show the ash plume circling the southern hemisphere.
The image gallery focuses on the data from the MODIS instrument on Aqua and Terra to provide continuity and ease of identification of the ash plume. The plume can appear differently to other NASA satellites that look at the atmosphere using other parts of the spectrum other than visible and infrared light.
The gallery begins on June 4, 2011 when a fissure opened in the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex. The MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured a natural-color image that showed the ash 45,000 feet (14,000 meters) high. As the plume shot up and blew southeast toward Argentina, heavier particles fell to the ground. According to the Buenos Aires Herald, the border town of Bariloc, Argentina reported as much as a foot (30 centimeters) of ash on the ground.
A week after it first began erupting, Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex continued to emit a steady stream of ash. This false-color satellite image shows the eruption’s ash plume on the morning of June 11, 2011. At the time, the Joint Air Force & Army Weather Information Network reported that the ash rose to an altitude of 23,000 feet (7,000 meters).
In this image, low-angled sunlight (10 days before the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere) illuminates the north side of the plume, while the south side is in deep shadow. The ash colum rises from a fissure about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of Puyehue Volcano. The high-altitude lakes to the west of the eruption site are bright blue (likely from ash suspended in the water) and partially covered by floating pumice, a type of volcanic rock permeated with gas bubbles. Ash-covered snow is gray, and vegetation is red. The image was acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) aboard the Terra satellite.
In addition to large amounts of ash on the ground in Chile and Argentina, rainfall poses another problem. Chile's National Geology and Mining Service noted that rainfall on loose ash could trigger landslides and lahars, especially in the Andes Mountains where river valleys are clogged with ash.
According to Agence France-Presse, air travel from South America to Australia has been adversely affected. NASA confirmed the ash locations in satellite imagery over New Zealand, South Africa, and Tasmania this week.
The eruption at Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex sent clouds of ash high into the atmosphere, above the weather that usually breaks up such plumes. The CALIPSO satellite recorded the plume 15 kilometers (50,000 feet) above the Earth on the second day of the eruption, and the volcano continues to push ash into the atmosphere. At these high altitudes, the ash entered the jetstream and blew quickly eastward.
By June 13, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite acquired these images, a concentrated plume was visible more than half a world away over Australia and New Zealand. The top image shows the ash plume over southern Australia and the Tasman Sea, while the lower image provides a view farther east over New Zealand and the South Pacific Ocean.
The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand warned pilots that the ash cloud was between 20,000 and 35,000 feet (6 to 11 kilometers), the cruising level for many aircraft. Because volcanic ash can damage a jet engine, flight traffic in parts of Australia and New Zealand was canceled or diverted to lower altitudes.
On June 10, Aqua's MODIS showed winds pushed the plume east and northeast over Argentina. The next day, winds twisted the ash plume like a pretzel over Argentina. By June 12, Terra's MODIS instrument saw the volcano's ash plume blowing over the southwestern tip of South Africa on its way around the world, while Aqua's MODIS captured an image of the volcano that showed its plume being drawn into a low pressure system in the Atlantic Ocean.
The next day, June 13, NASA's Aqua satellite provided an image of the light brown ash plume crossing over New Zealand and Tasmania. Tasmania is an Australian island and state located 150 miles south of Australia. Later in the day Aqua's MODIS instrument showed the ash plume pouring out of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano and traveling east and northeast. The height of the plume varied during the day with the intensity of the eruption. Plumes were measured between 2.5 and 5 miles (4 and 8 kilometers) high at different times of the day.
On June 14, NASA satellite imagery from three different overpasses was pieced together by Jeff Schmaltz of the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA Goddard. NASA's Aqua satellite overpasses created a mosaic of the volcanic ash plume traversing the South Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, MODIS on the Terra satellite captured another look at what was happening at the volcano. At 15:15 UTC (11:15 a.m. EDT), winds continued pushing the plume east and southeast into the Southern Atlantic Ocean. The ash plume was reaching as high as five miles (8 kilometers) into the atmosphere.
As air traffic continues to be affected in Chile, Argentina, southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and even Australia, the news from Chile's National Geology and Mining Service was that a possible return to increased eruption activity.
NASA continues to generate daily images of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle's plume over Chile and the rest of the southern hemisphere. NASA's Earth Observatory, housed at NASA Goddard, posts new images of volcanic eruptions at their Natural Hazards web page: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/category.php?cat_id=12.
For NASA Goddard FLICKR Gallery of images of Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano eruption from June 4 to June 14, 2011:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/sets/72157626837498837/
Contacts and sources:
0 comments:
Post a Comment