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Emergency observation of the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland by AVNIR-2 onboard "Daichi" (ALOS)

The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland has erupted on April 14, 2010, and many volcanic ashes disabled to operate airplanes in the Europe. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has decided to activate an emergency observation of the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2) onboard the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS, "Daichi") on April 16 and 17 for this area.

Fig. 1 shows an image acquired by AVNIR-2 at 13:10 (UTC) on April 17, 2010. It shows the volcanic fumes and their diffusions in gray color and volcanic activity from the eruptive crater. The white areas show clouds, glaciers and snowpack in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1: AVNIR-2 image with +12 degree pointing angle acquired on 13:10 of April 17, 2010 (UTC).

Fig.1: AVNIR-2 image with +12 degree pointing angle acquired on 13:10 of April 17, 2010 (UTC).
(Click to View Enlarged Image)

Fig. 2 shows the enlarged part of the crater, left on April 17, 2010 and right on July 19, 2008. The red circle in Fig. 2 indicates the crater area, where volcanic fumes can be identified. This image says that the volcano is very active (as of April 17, 2010) with a large amount of the fumes erupted.

Fig. 2: Enlaged images around the crater of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano (20km squares, Left: April 17, 2010; right: July 19, 2008)

Fig.2: Enlaged images around the crater of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano
(20 km squares, Left: April 17, 2010; right: July 19, 2008)

(Click to View Enlarged Image)

The AVNIR-2 image acquired on April 16, 2010 was largely covered by clouds, and could not be used to identify the surface condition.

The acquired image was provided to disaster management organizations and the International Disaster Charter.

©JAXA EORC

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