Scott Fisher's Blog

While I did study volcanoes in college...it was a small portion of my studies.  There's not much "weather" forecasting when it comes to molten rock and lava spewing out of the ground!  However, while just recently studying some satellite imagery worksheets, I came across a notation on how volcanic outflow (primarily ash) would appear on the IR imagery.  The short answer is DARK....because the ash itself should be MUCH warmer than any nearby clouds.  As in nearly pitch black, in the most "sooty" ash. There are no doubt lots of imagery of volcanic eruptions.  One of the best examples I have seen is from a volcano in New Zealand.

Here's a look at the infrared:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/satellite/satelliteseye/vo
lcanoes/ruapehu96/ruapach3.gif


you can see the dark ash blowing with the wind!

Neat, yes...but I am glad I don't have to try and forecast underground as well!


Scott Fisher