NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) pictures of Hawaii on October 29 and November 28, 2022.
During Mauna Loas first eruption in nearly four years, satellites observed the volcanos nighttime radiance and sulfur dioxide plume.
Hawaiis Mauna Loa– the worlds biggest active volcano– has actually been peaceful for the past four years. However in November 2022, the volcano started to stir.
In early October 2022, the first indications of unrest emerged, when U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data revealed a tenfold increase in small earthquakes below the volcanos top caldera. Swarms of earthquakes continued sporadically through November 27, 2022, when new cracks began to spill lava throughout the caldera flooring at 11:30 p.m. regional time.
Vog (volcanic smog) is a visible haze consisted of gas and an aerosol of small particles and acidic droplets created when sulfur dioxide (SO2) and other gases emitted from a volcano chemically connect with sunlight and atmospheric oxygen, moisture, and dust. Volcanic gas emissions can hurt the environment and regional citizens health. Vog is a danger that is particularly associated with Hawaiian volcanoes.
Some cloud cover on November 28 spread light from the eruption and city locations and made it more scattered. “It likewise looks like the lava discharged by the eruption was so intense that the sensor was filled, producing a post-saturation recovery streak along the VIIRS scan to the southeast,” kept in mind Simon Carn, a volcanologist at Michigan Tech. For comparison, Mauna Loas previous eruption, in March– April 1984, released about 1.2 teragrams of sulfur dioxide over a three-week eruption.
The bright radiance of the eruption was visible to NASA and NOAA satellites orbiting hundreds of miles above the surface area. For comparison, the image above shows the same location on October 29, 2022, prior to the eruption had begun.
The intense glow of the eruption was visible to NASA and NOAA satellites orbiting hundreds of miles above the surface area. The image above was obtained at 2:25 a.m. regional time (12:25 UTC) on November 28 by the “day-night band” of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite. For contrast, the image above reveals the same location on October 29, 2022, before the eruption had started.
Scientists connected with NASAs Disasters program are actively keeping track of the eruption and are in the procedure of offering information and images to other firms– including the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and FEMA– that are reacting to the eruption.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, utilizing VIIRS day-night band information from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership and modified Copernicus Sentinel 5P information (2022) processed by the European Space Agency.
Some cloud cover on November 28 spread light from the eruption and metropolitan areas and made it more scattered. “It also appears like the lava released by the eruption was so brilliant that the sensing unit was filled, producing a post-saturation healing streak along the VIIRS scan to the southeast,” kept in mind Simon Carn, a volcanologist at Michigan Tech. “These streaks are just seen over extremely extreme sources of noticeable radiation.”
European Space Agencys Sentinel-5P satellite mapped sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere above Hawaii utilizing its Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) sensing unit on November 28, 2022.
Amongst the substances pouring from the volcano was sulfur dioxide (SO2), a pungent gas that reacts with oxygen and water to form a gray volcanic haze called vog. The map above shows where the European Space Agencys Sentinel-5P satellite discovered sulfur dioxide in the center troposphere with its Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) sensing unit. The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI)– the predecessor to TROPOMI– on NASAs Aura satellite makes similar measurements. The Ozone Mapping and Profiling Suite (OMPS) on Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, and NOAA-21 does.
” The eruption is gushing rather than explosive, although its initial stage over night on November 28 was rather energetic and injected some sulfur dioxide to high elevations, perhaps all the way to the tropopause,” said Carn. “That is uncommon for this type of eruption.”
Researchers at NASA used both OMPS and TROPOMI to measure sulfur dioxide emissions of about 0.2 teragrams on November 28. “Both sensors determined within 5 minutes of each other in early afternoon and remain in exceptional arrangement despite having various algorithms,” said Nickolay Krotkov, an atmospheric scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center. For comparison, Mauna Loas previous eruption, in March– April 1984, emitted about 1.2 teragrams of sulfur dioxide over a three-week eruption.
” Mauna Loa eruptions normally last for a few weeks, but this is a progressing eruption and were simply in the early days of it,” added Ashley Davies, a volcanologist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “The U.S. Geological Surveys Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is carefully keeping an eye on and assessing all aspects of the eruption and is a fantastic source of details for individuals questioning the threats and risks this eruption might pose.”
