The active Russian volcano Bezymianny in Kamchatka shows an ongoing flowfrom a vent on the side of the volcano on Dec. 28, 2000. This image is acomposite of an Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and ReflectionRadiometer (ASTER) image showing the volcano's topography (blue) and athermal infrared image showing the "hot spot" (red) in great detail. ASTER is the "zoom lens" aboard NASA's Terrasatellite.
ASTER's ability to sense fine-scale heated surfaces is providingnever-before seen views of active volcanic eruptions. These observationsprovide a detailed look into the eruptive history. Lava flows, hotmudflows, and other details of eruption activity that cannot be seenusing other techniques are revealed. Michael Ramsey, of the University ofPittsburgh, presented on May 30, 2001, at the American Geophysical Union's (AGU) Spring meeting ASTER's initial observations of therecent phases of two ongoing eruptions in the Caribbean (Montserrat) andRussia (Bezymianny).
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Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team, University of Pittsburg
