Emissions of high-altitude ash from Eyjafjallajökull Volcano on May 4, 2010, led to another round of flight delays and cancellations in the British Isles. According to the London Volcanic Ash Advisory Center, (VAAC) the plume reached 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) and stretched at least 105 nautical miles (194 kilometers).
This natural-color satellite image shows the ash plume at 2:00 p.m. local time on May 4, 2010. It was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua spacecraft. The tan ash plume extends from the summit of Eyjafjallajökull in the upper left-hand corner of the image, over the Icelandic coast, and southeast across the Atlantic Ocean.
References & Resources
- BBC. (2010, May 5). Scottish, Irish and Northern Irish airports shut by ash. Accessed May 6, 2010.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Robert Simmon.
