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Ash fall streak from the Sheveluch volcano in Kamchatka

By Scott Bachmeier •

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images, with topography [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images, with topography [click to enlarge]

In a comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images on 12 May 2019 (above), a dark volcanic ash fall streak was evident in the Visible image, which extended over 100 miles southward from the Sheveluch volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia. This feature was a layer of volcanic ash that had been deposited on top of existing snow cover — note that most of the dark ash fall streak exhibited much cooler infrared brightness temperatures compared to the bare ground of the interior valley to the west (since the ash streak existed on top of a higher-altitude area of snow cover).

This ash fall streak was a result of an explosive eruption of the volcano over a month earlier, on 10 April — the volcanic ash plume could be seen moving southward in Himawari-8 Visible (0.64 µm) images (below).

Himawari-8

Himawari-8 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

An interesting aspect of this long-lived ash fall streak was that a portion of it was apparently covered by a layer of fresh snowfall at some point after the eruption — and a 7-day sequence of Suomi NPP VIIRS True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images viewed using RealEarth (below) suggested that this layer of new snow was melting with the aid of the high May sun angle, gradually revealing more of the original length of the ash fall streak.

Suomi NPP VIIRS True Color RGB images, 06-12 May 2019 [click to play animation | MP4]

Suomi NPP VIIRS True Color RGB images, 06-12 May 2019 [click to play animation | MP4]

Note that there was another small volcanic plume moving south-southwestward from Sheveluch in the 09 May VIIRS True Color image — retrieved quantities of ash probability, height, loading and effective radius for this volcanic plume (source) are shown below.

Suomi NPP False Color, Ash Probability, Height, Loading and Effective Radius [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP False Color, Ash Probability, Height, Loading and Effective Radius [click to enlarge]

This type of volcanic ash fall streak frequently occurs on the snow-covered Kamchatka Peninsula — here is an example from March 2013.

Thanks go out to Santiago Gassó for bringing this interesting feature to our attention.

Categories: Himawari-8, RealEarth, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Suomi NPP, VIIRS, Volcanic activity