This picture, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission on Saturday, 5 September, reveals a plume from the eruption of Anak Krakatau. The small volcanic island, within the Indonesian archipelago located between Sumatra and Java, started spewing ash and lava on 4 September. This induced disruption and flight cancellations at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Worldwide Airport over the weekend, though the airport has now reopened.
On this picture, the white plume is a mixture of volcanic gases which have reached a excessive altitude – gases emitted throughout eruptions normally consist primarily of water vapour, carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide. The brown clouds additionally seen within the picture are made up of ash and particles drifting at a decrease altitude.
The picture was captured by Sentinel-3’s Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI), an imaging spectrometer. This optical instrument has 21 distinct spectral bands that measure information on ocean color and vegetation with a spatial decision of 300 m. This offers information for monitoring ocean ecosystems, supporting crop administration and agriculture and offering estimates of atmospheric aerosol and clouds.
The Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission consists of two satellites, with a 3rd satellite tv for pc because of launch on board a Vega-C launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 15 September (03.21 CEST, 22:21 native time on 14 September).