********************************************************** From: Simon Carn <scarn@xxxxxxxx> ********************************************************** On August 13 at 10:15UTC, a large sulfur dioxide cloud was detected over Ethiopia and Sudan by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite. This is presumed to be the result of a volcanic eruption in western Afar, Ethiopia, though the source is currently unclear. Preliminary analysis indicates that the cloud contained ~8000 tons of SO2, although the SO2 amount depends on the altitude of the cloud, which is not yet known. Inspection of MODIS hot-spot data (http://modis.higp.hawaii.edu) show the appearance of a cluster of hot-spots centered at 12.25ºN, 40.65ºE late on August 12, presumably corresponding to an active lava flow. This location is around 40 km SSE of Dabbahu volcano, which had its first historical eruption in September 2005. The closest volcano to the eruption site appears to be Manda Hararo (12.17ºN, 40.82ºE), a system of fissure vents with no recorded historic eruptions. OMI data on August 14 showed continuing SO2 emissions, although the extent of the MODIS thermal anomaly had diminished. Further updates will be provided in due course, and images will be posted on our website (http://so2.umbc.edu/omi). Best regards, Simon [ simon carn | joint center for earth systems technology ] [ umbc | 1000 hilltop circle | baltimore | md 21250 | usa ] [ 410-455-1454 | 410-455-5868 (fax) ] [ www.volcarno.com | so2.umbc.edu ] ============================================================== 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. ==============================================================
