Following on the heels of our post on the early March 2017 eruption of Bogoslof in the Aleutian Islands, the Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) located at the NESDIS Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB) noted an interesting SO2 signal following the eruption of Kambalny on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the various Himawari multispectral imagery.  The ash plume lasted many hours and was carried hundreds of miles from the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Himawari-8 Nighttime Microphysics RGB with the SO2 plume (bright pink coloring emanating from the Kamchatka Peninsula) valid 03/25/17-03/27/17.  Click here to enlarge

From SAB Analyst, Mike Turk (10pm March 25 – 7am March 26): I had to handle the coordination with Tokyo and Anchorage VAACs regarding possible hand off of responsibility from Tokyo to Washington. Anchorage-VAAC called to discuss need for a Significant Meteorological Information (SIGMET) statement for the Oakland Flight Information Region (FIR). the Nighttime Microphysics RGB clearly showed the initial penetration of ash into the Oakland FIR .

Himawari-8 Dust RGB with the ash cloud (orange/salmon) and SO2 plume (light green) emanating from the Kamchatka Peninsula, valid 03/25/17 – 03/27/17.  Click here to enlarge

Himawari-8 Air Mass RGB with the ash cloud (white) and SO2 plume (light pink) faintly visible near the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula as they get caught up in the dry, stratospheric air (red shading), valid 03/25/17 – 03/27/17.  Click here to enlarge

From SAB Analyst, Ellen Ramirez (10pm March 26th -8am March 27th): At the beginning of my shift it was daylight over Kambalny and I could not discern the ash plume in the Daytime Microphysics RGB. Several hours later after sunset the plume was most distinguishable in Nighttime Microphysics RGB, followed by the Dust RGB, and barely in the Air Mass RGB but only because I knew where to look.

The ash plume is enhanced in the multispectral imagery due to the 12.4 µm – 10.4 µm band difference.  The SO2 plumes are enhanced in the multispectral imagery due to the absorption of SO2 at the 8.6 µm (Dust) and 7.3 µm (Air Mass) wavelengths.

For more satellite analysis of this eruption, please see the CIMSS Volcano Blog entry on Kambalny.

All multispectral imagery in this post is courtesy of NASA SPoRT through the GOES-R Proving Ground.

Thank you for reading!