Eruption of Mount Veniaminof on the Alaska Peninsula

By Scott Bachmeier • 21 November 2018

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and Split Window Difference (10.3-12.3 µm) images [click to play MP4 animation]

Following an eruption of Mount Veniaminof on 21 November 2018, 1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and Split Window Difference (10.3-12.3 µm) images (above) showed the volcanic ash plume drifting southeastward over the Gulf of Alaska. During the period 1947-2323 UTC the plume was seen to grow to a length of 200 miles from the volcano summit. Note in the Visible imagery that the 2625 ft (800 m) volcano acted as a barrier to the northwesterly boundary layer winds to create a cloud-free “notch” immediately downwind of Veniaminof.

NOAA-20 VIIRS True Color RGB images viewed using RealEarth (below) highlighted the light brown color of the ash plume.

NOAA-20 VIIRS True Color RGB images [click to enlarge]

Terra/Aqua MODIS and Suomi NPP VIIRS Ash Probability, Ash Height and Ash Loading images [click to play animation | MP4]

Categories: Aqua, GOES-17, MODIS, NOAA-20, RealEarth, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Suomi NPP, Terra, VIIRS, Volcanic activity