NASA'S Terra Satellite Captures Ash Plume of Icelandic Volcano

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland erupted Wednesday, April 14, for the second time this month. The volcano is still spewing ash into the air and the ash clouds are impacting air travel in Northern Europe.

NASA's Terra satellite flew over the volcano the following day at 11:35 UTC (7:35 a.m. EDT) on April 15, 2010, and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS instrument onboard Terra captured a visible image of the ash plume from Eyjafjallajokull Volcano.

The MODIS Rapid Response System was developed to provide daily satellite images of the Earth's landmasses in near real time. True-color, photo-like imagery and false-color imagery are available within a few hours of being collected, making the system a valuable resource. The MODIS Rapid Response Team that generates the images is located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

NASA works with other agencies on using satellite observations to aid in the detection and monitoring of aviation hazards caused by volcanic ash. For more on this NASA program, visit: science.larc.nasa.gov/asap/research-ash.html