Ash and Steam Plume from Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull Volcano

April 19, 2010 by martyk423

Authors:

Marty Kellum

Figures:

Legend:

Figure 1: True color, georeferenced, MODIS image of the area to the east of Iceland. The ash and steam plume is visible. The UK is visible to the south and Norway to the east. Figure 2: Zoom in of Figure 2 showing the ash and steam plume.

Temporal Information:

Thu, 04/15/2010 - 11:35

Data Description:

The filename MOD021KM.A2010105.1135.005.2010105201236.hdf can be ordered from the LAADS website at http://ladsweb.nascom.nasa.gov/ or it can be downloaded from the Modis Rapid Response System website at http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Background:

On April 14, the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland began erupting, spraying steam and ash into the atmosphere. The ash cloud migrated south and east and created hazzardous flying conditions over portions of Europe. On Thursday, April 15th, five to six thousand flights were likely canceled due to the possibility of engine failure caused by ash buildup. The shutdown of air services included portions of Britain, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, France,Germany and Poland. This was the largest airspace closure since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks [1]. An unfortunate side effect of the ash cloud was that many foreign dignataries, including United States President Obama, where unable to attend the funeral of Polish president Lech Kaczynski on Sunday April 18 because of air travel restrictions over Europe [2]. By Monday, April 19th, the ash cloud had dropped to a height of around 2 kilometers, and flights were hoping to resume. The cloud had been as high as 11 kilometers on April 16th [3]. This was good news as airlines were losing around 200 million dollars per day because of cancelations [4].

Relevance:

Although volcanic eruptions are not unique, this eruption was interesting because of the complicated mixture of fire and ice that created the huge plume of steam and ash. The plume is composed mostly of steam because of the flash boiling of ice in the glaciers surrounding Eyjafjallajoekull. This could provide valuable data, particularly for students involved in satellite remote sensing courses, that is useful for differentiating steam and ash from traditional cloud formations.

Reference:

[1] http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100415/ts_alt_afp/icelandvolcanoaviationus_20100415225831

[2] http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/04/18/poland.funeral/index.html

[3] http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100419/sc_nm/us_iceland_volcano_science_1

[4] http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/04/19/iceland.volcano.developments/index.html?hpt=T1

Citation:

Ash and Steam Plume from Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull Volcano, Marty Kellum, Journal of Earth Science Phenomena, 2010, 29.

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