********************************** From: Shellie Rose <roseshellie@xxxxxxxxx> ********************************** New unrest at Klyuchevskoy Volcano (~30 km southwest of the town of Klyuchi on the Kamchatka Peninsula) is being actively monitored by the Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) as well as the University of Pittsburgh by way of the ASTER instrument on the NASA satellite (Terra). KVERT raised the color code of Klyuchevskoy from yellow to orange on 15 February 2007 due to increasing amounts of gas/steam plumes, ash explosions, incandescence in the crater, and volcanic tremor. To support the monitoring of this remote volcano, ASTER data have been acquired on several occasions. The latest interpretation can be seen here: http://ivis.eps.pitt.edu/data/Kamchatka/21Feb07_Klyuch.pdf The new ASTER data from 21 February indicate a sizeable thermal anomaly at the summit crater, which has increased in both areal and thermal extent since the last set of data (4 Feb). The daytime over-flight captured 15m/pixel visible/near infrared (VNIR), 30 m/pixel shortwave infrared (SWIR), and 90m/pixel thermal infrared (TIR) data. The low-sun angle VNIR data highlight a small (1.5 km) plume extending to the northwest with discontinuous puffs throughout. A second eastern plume moderately SO2 rich (visible only in the TIR) extends the same distance, but to the east. Thermal anomalies at the summit include 10 TIR pixels that are 10 degrees or more above the average background temperature (-30 C). The maximum temperatures of ~41 C occurs along the NW edge of the summit crater in the same location of the large lava flow emplaced in early 2005. Because ASTER data from 4 Feb revealed only two thermally elevated pixels (max = 18 C), these new data indicate the increasing activity during the month. Data from the SWIR (more sensitive to higher temperatures and having higher spatial resolution) reveal significant thermal output (max = 276 C). Such high temperatures could indicate the presence of a small lava lake forming within the 150 m inner crater. Also new in the 21 February TIR data is a linear thermal feature located in the vicinity of the Krestovsky channel on the NW flank. This feature is approximately 180 m wide and 1.2 km in length (before being obscured by clouds). The average temperature is ~4 C above the background indicating the possibility of melt water or a lahar. Continued monitoring and a cloud-free acquisition of the base of Klyuchevskoy will better determine the extent and characteristics of this feature. ASTER will continue to monitor the volcano to assess changes in the thermal and gas flux throughout this phase of activity. --------------------------------------------- Shellie Rose University of Pittsburgh Department of Geology and Planetary Science SRCC 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15260 srr13@xxxxxxxx ============================================================== To unsubscribe from the volcano list, send the message: signoff volcano to: listserv@xxxxxxx, or write to: volcano-request@xxxxxxxx To contribute to the volcano list, send your message to: volcano@xxxxxxxx Please do not send attachments. ==============================================================
