Popocatépetl, or Popo, the active volcano located about 70 km southeast of Mexico City, sends a plume south on January 23, 2001. The astronaut crew on the InternationalSpace Station Alpha observed and recorded this image as they orbited tothe northeast of the volcano. Popo has been frequently active for sixyears. On this day, the eruption plume reportedly rose to more than 9km above sea level [for reference, Popo’s summit elevation is 5426m (17,800 feet)]. Note the smaller ash plume below the main plume (arrow). Theperspective from the ISS allowed the astronauts this unique 3dimensional view.
Popo is situated between two large population centers: Mexico City(more than 18 million people, and just off the image to the right) andPuebla (about 1.2 million people). The region’s dense populationprovides the potential for extreme impacts from volcanic hazards.Recent eruptions have been frequent, and have resulted in evacuationsaround the mountain.
References & Resources
The image ISS01-ESC-5316 is provided and archived by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. Additional images taken by astronauts can be viewed at NASA-JSC’s Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth at http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/
