UPDATED: 20th November 2006
This document has been approved by the head of department or section.
This page contains links to important news stories and events involving the EOS Group in Leicester. The page will continually be updated, so please check back for the latest satellite imagery relevant to current Global events. For further details on the satellite instruments, please visit the EOS group research page
As the activity at Grímsvötn Volcano begins to subside, researchers in the EOS group are using a variety of space-borne remote-sensing instruments to study the characteristics of the volcanic ash and gas plumes. Some of the latest imagery is shown below, allowing the spatial and height extent of the main ash plume (containing the largest ash particles) to be observed. For high-resolution copies of these images and more, please contact us.
22nd May 2011 - AATSR This is an RGB image of the early stages of the eruption (red: 0.87 micron; green: 0.67 micron; blue: 0.55 micron) taken at 22z. Iceland can be seen in the middle of the image (in red) with the ash column and associated plume (brown) extending southward across the Atlantic Ocean.
24th May 2011 - MERIS This MERIS RGB image on April 24th shows the passage of the (brown) ash cloud to the East of Scotland.
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23rd-24th May 2011 -NOAA - AVHRR The images below uses AVHRR channels 4 and 5 to detect the location of the ash cloud on the 23rd and 24th May (highlighted in shades of red and orange). The ash appears to have been drawn towards the UK by a deep area of low pressure which crossed the UK on 23rd May. In the lower image, detectable ash is seen over Scotland during the morning overpass at around 10z. Due to the strong winds over Scotland the ash plume passed over within a few hours. Data: EUMETSAT; Software: David Taylor's software http://www.satsignal.eu
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22nd-24th May 2011 - MSG-SEVIRI image and animation Using a combination of the thermal channels from SEVIRI we were able to distinguish ash (pink/purple) from background clouds (green) with the image below-left showing the scene early in the morning on May 24th with the plume visible over northern Scotland in this image. Extending the observations over a longer 3-day period we see the evolution of the southbound ash plume in the movie below-right. As above areas of ash are distinguished in pink/purple colours with clouds in green. Note: the data only show the larger ash particles. *Please allow time for the animation to load. To play movie please click triangle once. Data: EUMETSAT. Software: David Taylor's software http://www.satsignal.eu
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24th May CALIPSO As well as the southward plume which has caused the closure of several airports in Europe, some of the material ejected from the volcano travelled northward towards Greenland and northern Canada. The CALIOP lidar onboard CALIPSO captured the position and altitude of the northward plume on May 24th 2011 over Baffin Bay between Canada and Greenland with a height of between 10 and 13 km. Using a back-trajectory model it can be shown that this feature originated from Iceland on May 22nd 2011.
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