"Mount Etna is erupting and the lava flows and smoke plumes can be seen from space", says Dr Kate Evans-Jones from the Remote Sensing Data Analysis Service (RSDAS) at Plymouth Marine Laboratory. The current eruption started on 17th July but new fractures are opening up all the time. Activity on these could threaten more populated areas. "We are providing near real-time satellite data to ground crews monitoring the activity so they can quickly identify the location of new lava flows" says Kate, adding "this is the first time that satellite data have been used to support an on-going crisis assessment on Etna".
High temperature volcanic features, such as lava flows, crater lakes and hot springs are detected using the thermal infrared channels of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). The sensor is flown on the NOAA series of satellites and can provide near real-time images for any cloud-free volcano at least four times a day. An algorithm developed by Dr Andrew Harris, from both the University of Hawaii and the Open University, is used to enhance the images so that hot spots can be easily and quickly identified.
"We normally process satellite images for marine environmental research but we are happy to talk to anyone with an interest in using remote sensing data," says Kate "we have been processing data for Mount Etna since Andrew approached us in 1997". RSDAS is working with Andrew and Italian agencies to provide a near real-time monitoring service during Etna's latest eruption.
The Remote Sensing Data Analysis Service is funded to provide processed satellite data for use by scientists, particularly those in the marine environment. Images are supplied in a form that can be used for comparison with field observations or with model outputs. Processing is highly automated and can output images about ninety minutes after a satellite has collected the data. RSDAS has been able to provide timely data on a number of occasions. For example, a large phytoplankton bloom off the South West coast was detected and monitored using RSDAS images in the summer of 1999. Images were used by the br /itish Olympic sailing team in Sydney to determine local currents before and during the Games. Data was also used in March of this year to help Portuguese scientists understand how ocean currents could carry bodies over 300km after a br /idge collapsed over the river Douro.
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Notes for Editors
1. Plymouth Marine Laboratory is part of the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). It undertakes fundamental and strategic research to underpin the marine requirements of the United Kingdom. It carries out its mission through key partnerships and collaborations with organisations throughout the world.
2. NERC funds and carries out impartial scientific research in the sciences of the environment. NERC trains the next generation of independent environmental scientists. Website: www.nerc.ac.uk
For further information contact:
Dr Kate Evans-Jones, Plymouth Marine Laboratory. Tel: 01752 633485 fax: (0)1752 633101
Dr Pete Miller, Plymouth Marine Laboratory. Tel: 01752 633485, fax: 01752 633101,
Marion O'Sullivan, NERC Press Officer. Tel: 01793 411727.