NASA Continues to Track Persistent Iceland Volcano

The continuing eruption of Iceland'sEyjafjallajökull volcano was observed Mon., April 19, 2010, by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument onboard NASA's Terra spacecraft. The new image shows a white eruption column being carried toward the south by prevailing winds.

The image is dominated by the gray, ash-laden eruption cloud dispersed south and east by the winds, blowing from the southern Iceland coast toward Europe. The bright red areas mark the hot lava at the current vent (upper left), and the still-hot lava flows from the earlier phases of the eruption (upper center). The high-temperature material is revealed by ASTER's thermal infrared bands.