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December 5, 2011 - Windblown ash from Puyehue-Cordón Caulle (Chile) off Argentina
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Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano continues to produce large amounts of ash almost six months after its initial explosive eruption on June 4, 2011. According to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program, plumes were observed rising 2.3 to 2.5 kilometers above the crater on November 26 – 27. The ash affected air travel, with flights out of Uruguay disrupted or cancelled during that time.
On November 25, 2011, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image of a fan-shaped plume drifting hundreds of kilometers east over Argentina and the Atlantic Ocean. The image shown here is a combination of three swaths captured during different pass-overs of Terra. All three swaths were collected within a one hour and forty minute time period (from 3:10 to 14:50 UTC), then pieced together to best show the extent of the massive ash plume.
The plume can be seen rising in the west in the Andes Mountain and extends far to the east, off the right side of the image. The ash cover is so thick that it obscures the detail of parts of the land of Argentina and hides the blue ocean waters in a long swath.
Under the plume, a large and brilliantly colored phytoplankton bloom can be seen. Phytoplankton are small marine organisms which respond to favorable conditions (the right water temperature, sunlight and nutrients) with explosive growth. It is likely that the volcanic ash is encouraging the massive bloom by depositing iron, a nutrient for phytoplankton, into the to the ocean water.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 11/25/2011
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano continues to produce large amounts of ash almost six months after its initial explosive eruption on June 4, 2011. According to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program, plumes were observed rising 2.3 to 2.5 kilometers above the crater on November 26 – 27. The ash affected air travel, with flights out of Uruguay disrupted or cancelled during that time.
On November 25, 2011, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image of a fan-shaped plume drifting hundreds of kilometers east over Argentina and the Atlantic Ocean. The image shown here is a combination of three swaths captured during different pass-overs of Terra. All three swaths were collected within a one hour and forty minute time period (from 3:10 to 14:50 UTC), then pieced together to best show the extent of the massive ash plume.
The plume can be seen rising in the west in the Andes Mountain and extends far to the east, off the right side of the image. The ash cover is so thick that it obscures the detail of parts of the land of Argentina and hides the blue ocean waters in a long swath.
Under the plume, a large and brilliantly colored phytoplankton bloom can be seen. Phytoplankton are small marine organisms which respond to favorable conditions (the right water temperature, sunlight and nutrients) with explosive growth. It is likely that the volcanic ash is encouraging the massive bloom by depositing iron, a nutrient for phytoplankton, into the to the ocean water.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 11/25/2011
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
