The Ambrym Volcano was billowing ash and steam on October 4, 2004, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image. Located on Ambrym Island in Vanuatu approximately 2,200 kilometers northeast of Australia, the volcano is one of the region’s most active, with regular eruptions nearly every year in recent history. Red dots on top of the volcano indicate that MODIS also detected a thermal anomaly associated with the eruption. This could be hot ash, lava, or fires started by the erupting volcano.
The large image provided above is at MODIS’ maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides the image in additional resolutions.
References & Resources
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
