Probing Kilauea’s Plume
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- Visualizations by:
- Amy Moran and
- Joshua Stevens
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- Scientific consulting by:
- Ralph Kahn
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- Technical support:
- Amy Moran
- View full credits
Though Hawaii’s Kilauea has been erupting continuously since 1983, the eruption took a dangerous turn on May 3, 2018, when several new fissure eruptions emerged in a residential neighborhood (Leilani Estates). These images show observations of the height of the
plume on May 6, 2018, from the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) sensor on NASA’s Terra satellite.
The top map represents the sulfur-rich plume represented in three dimensions as it moved downwind of the active fissures. The second image depicts the same data as a cross section, with the height of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea for comparison. The MISR data indicate that, on May 6, the top of the plume was injected to roughly 1.5 km (1 mi) above sea level, but then descended several hundred meters as it moved 140 km (90 mi) downwind. Winds blew the plume southwest along the coast, but over the ocean, away from where people live. Low plumes like this are closely watched because they can pose health hazards if harmful gases and particles move toward population centers.
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Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Animator
- Amy Moran (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]
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Data visualizer
- Joshua Stevens (SSAI) [Lead]
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Writer
- Adam P. Voiland (SSAI)
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Scientist
- Ralph Kahn (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
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Technical support
- Amy Moran (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]
Datasets used in this visualization
Terra (Collected with the MISR sensor)
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.