Chaitén satellite image, 18 June 2008

Chaitén satellite image, 18 June 2008 18 June 2008

Posted by admin in Chaitén, Chile, activity reports, eruptions.
Tags: Chaitén, Chile, South America, volcanic activity reports, volcanic eruptions
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This GOES-12 satellite image comes from the Argentine meteorological service, the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN), and was taken at 15:39 UTC today, 18 June 2008. The position of Chaitén volcano is marked by the red arrow. The plume is directed slightly to the west of south (as shown in the earlier images from the Chaitén airfield cameras), and there is some ashfall to the west. About 50km south of the volcano the plume begins to cavort about the skies in a somewhat disorderly way; I’d be interested to hear interpretations. [Update: interpretations have come in - see the comments.]

GOES-12 satellite image, 18 June 2008, 1539UTC (Servicio Meteorológico Nacional, Argentina)

SMN satellite imagery can be accessed from this page: the ‘Norte Patagonia’ link brings up the latest image covering the Chaitén area.

For all our Chaitén coverage: Chaitén << The Volcanism Blog

Information
Global Volcanism Program: Chaitén – summary information for Chaitén (1508-41)
ONEMI, Oficina Nacional de Emergencia – Chilean government emergencies office (Spanish)
SERNAGEOMIN – Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (Spanish)

Comments

1. Alan Sullivan - 18 June 2008: Interesting, eh? This sort of twisty plume comes from moderate winds that change direction and speed with elevation. Pulsations in the eruption punch to different heights and are affected by different wind fields, depending how high they go. If the plume gets over 20k feet, it will hit the upper westerlies, and the highest part will go over Argentina. But the lower-level drift to the coast would continue. Expect shifty winds through tonight as a storm passes to the north. Eventually (maybe tomorrow) a southerly flow will redevelop and push the plume north again.
2. Mike - 18 June 2008: I agree with Alan. To his comment I will add that on the zoomed-out image, the storm is visible to the northwest. I see the ash plume initially getting blown south by the low-level winds, and then eventually getting sucked into the storm’s main circulation aloft.
3. volcanism - 18 June 2008: Many thanks, gentlemen. All those pretty swirls make sense now.
4. Chaitén: satellite image from 18 June 2008 « The Volcanism Blog - 20 June 2008: [...] Chaitén: satellite image from 18 June 2008 20 June 2008 Posted by volcanism in Chaitén, Chile, activity reports, eruptions. Tags: Chaitén, Chile, South America, volcanic activity reports, volcanic eruptions trackback A new satellite image of Chaitén volcano has been published at the NASA Earth Observatory Natural Hazards site. Taken on 18 June 2008 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite, it shows the interestingly-shaped plume we discussed in this recent TVB post. [...]