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Eruption of the Whakaari volcano on White Island, New Zealand

By Scott Bachmeier •

“Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images from Himawari-8 (left) and GOES-17 (right) [click to play animation | MP4]

A brief eruption of the Whakaari volcano on White Island, New Zealand occurred around 0110 UTC on 09 December 2019 — “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images from JMA Himawari-8 and GOES-17 (GOES-West) showed the small volcanic cloud as it fanned out east of the island (above).

A signature of the volcanic cloud was also seen in VIIRS True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP, as viewed using RealEarth (below). The cloud exhibited a rather warm infrared brightness temperature, since the Wellington VAAC only estimated the maximum height to be

VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP [click to enlarge]

VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP [click to enlarge]

The volcanic plume contained elevated levels of SO2 which drifted south-southeastward, as seen in a McIDAS-V image of Sentinel-5 TROPOMI Vertical Column SO2 at 0206 UTC (below).

Sentinel-5 TROPOMI Vertical Column SO2 (credit: Bob Carp, SSEC) [click to enlarge]

Sentinel-5 TROPOMI Vertical Column SO2 (credit: Bob Carp, SSEC) [click to enlarge]

Categories: GOES-17, Himawari-8, McIDAS-V, NOAA-20, Other Satellites, RealEarth, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Suomi NPP, VIIRS, Volcanic activity