Sakurajima Volcano in southern Japan erupted more than 400 times during 2009, and activity was increasing in early 2010. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured this natural-color image of the erupting volcano on February 15, 2010.
Gray ash is visible in the plume that extends northeast (towards the lower-right) of the volcano. Ashfall is a regular occurence at the daikon and mandarin farms surrounding the volcano, as well as in the nearby cities of Kagoshima and Kirishima.
Links
- Sakurajima (Global Volcanism Program).
- Sakurajima (Eruptions).
- Sakurajima from the International Space Station (Soichi Noguchi).
References & Resources
- Mainichi Daily News. (2010, February 2.) Kagoshima’s ‘Rainbow Island’ erupts into sea of colors. Accessed February 17, 2010.
- Photovolcanica. (2010, February.) Sakurajima Volcano. Accessed February 17, 2010.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data provided by the NASA EO-1 team. Caption by Robert Simmon.












