http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/iceland-volcano-plume.htmlNASA's Terra satellite flew over the volcano on April 16 at 10:45 UTC (6:45 a.m. EDT) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS instrument aboard Terra captured a visible image of Eyjafjallajökull's ash plume over the England and the Netherlands, stretching into Germany.
Air travel into and out of northern Europe has either been grounded or diverted because volcanic ash particles pose a risk of damage to airplane engines. 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:
http://science.larc.nasa.gov/asap/research-ash.html.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. For more information and a real-time MODIS image gallery, visit:
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/.Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
[img width=700 height=388]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/445166main_volcano-modis-20100416-labeled.jpgThe ongoing eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano is seen in this pair of images acquired April 15, 2010, from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft. At left is a natural-color visible image, while the right image is a composite of MODIS thermal infrared channels. Image credit: NASA GSFC/JPL
[img width=700 height=431]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/445263main_Eyjaf20100416-full.jpgThe ongoing eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano is seen in this pair of images acquired April 15, 2010, from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft. At left is a natural-color visible image, while the right image is a composite of MODIS thermal infrared channels. Image credit: NASA GSFC/JPL