September 10, 2013 - Plume from Dukono, Halmahera, Indonesia

Plume from Dukono, Halmahera, Indonesia

Indonesia’s remote Dukono Volcano continued its ongoing, intermittent eruption in late August, 2013. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite flew over the region on August 31, and captured this true-color image. Amid scattered clouds, a large, light gray plume can be seen rising from the summit crater complex and drifting westward over the Molucca Sea. The plume is duller in color that the bright white clouds, and thins among cloud cover far west of the island.

Dukono volcano, located in a rarely-visited area on Indonesia’s island of Halmahera, ranks among the world’s most active volcanoes, and has been in persistent, generally low-level activity since 1933. A complex volcano with a broad, low profile, Dukono has several summit peaks and overlapping craters. The activity is primarily strombolian, which means that the eruptions are mildly explosive and tend to occur at discrete but regular intervals.

On August 29, the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center(VAAC) reported an ash plume rose from the volcano to a height of 8,000 ft (2.4 km), suggesting that explosions may have increased in size recently. Ash plumes were consistently present through early September. On September 3, Darwin VAAC reported that the plume from Dukono was observed, and extended 50 nautical miles (57 mi, 93 km) to the northwest.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 8/31/2013
Resolutions: 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC