On May 25, 2015, Wolf volcano, the highest peak in the Galapagos, began erupting for the first time in 33 years. Despite extensive cloud cover, the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on the Earth Observing-1 satellite acquired this view of lava flowing into the ocean on May 28, 2015. The false-color image combines shortwave infrared, near infrared, and green light (ALI bands 9-7-4). Clouds appear blue-white, while liquid water is dark blue. Vegetated areas are green; old lava flows are brown. Fresh lava is bright orange and red.
Wolf volcano is located on the northern part of Isla Isabela, the largest island in the Galapagos. According to local authorities, the flow poses no risk to a unique colony of pink iguanas living nearby.
References & Resources
- Earth Observatory (2015, June 1) Wolf Volcano, Galapagos Islands. Accessed June 1, 2015.
- PRI (2015, May 26) Galapagos islands’ Wolf volcano erupts—rare pink iguanas not in danger. Accessed June 1, 2015.
- Smithsonian Institute Global Volcanism Program (2015, June 1) Wolf. Accessed June 1, 2015.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team. Caption by Adam Voiland.
