Theme: Volcanoes

 

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Text, Viewspace. The show will continue in 15 seconds. Coming up: View volcanic eruptions with NASA satellites. 

 

The timer at top right counts down from 15 seconds. 

 

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The text appears on a background of stars which move slowly towards and past us. 

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Antarctica on a globe

 

Text, ANTARCTICA

 

We close in on Antarctica from space and approach an icy mountain range.

 

A location marker appears in the bay where the range meets the sea.

 

Text, Mount Erebus, The world's southernmost active volcano. Ross Island, Antarctica

 

Steam rises from Mount Erebus.

 

Text, On the frozen continent of Antarctica, glacial ice covers the Mt. Erebus volcano.

 

The volcano from directly overhead.

 

Text, This satellite image from February 6, 2009, shows steam rising from the volcano's summit.

 

But there is something lurking beneath the ice that we cannot see.

 

The image becomes dark and a red pit in the middle of the volcano is circled.

 

Text, A thermal image from the satellite reveals the heat of a smoldering lava lake at the volcano's peak.

 

Scientists use heat-sensitive detectors on satellites to see when and where lava appears, and to predict where the lava will flow -- alerting people to evacuate when volcanoes awaken near towns and cities.

 

Mt. Erebus rises from the ice.

 

Text, Observations from space help us to keep a vigil on volcanoes all over the world -- whether in remote Antarctica or in the highly populated areas where lives are at stake.

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Mount Cleveland, Alaska, USA

 

Ash pours briefly from Mount Cleveland in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska in this picture taken on May 23, 2006, from the International Space Station.

 

A red circle around Mt. Cleveland in a satellite image. Text, The event was short.

 

Within two hours, the plume had detached completely from the volcano and drifted away.

 

A red circle around the ash cloud.

 

The ash cloud reached 20,000 feet, nearly 4 miles above sea level, before vanishing into the atmosphere.

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A banner reads, Myth vs Reality, An illustration with sea serpents surrounding a ship is above Myth, A satellite view of an erupting volcano is above Reality, A dark, rotating planet floats in the background at the bottom, The Myth side is highlighted, Text, It's safe to fly through volcanic ash.

 

The reality side is highlighted, Text, Eruptions of volcanic ash can be very dangerous to airplanes. The fine, glassy ash particles can clog engines, causing them to fail, and can scour windows, impeding visibility. Earth-observing satellites are important for monitoring clouds of volcanic ash, which can look like ordinary rain clouds on airplane radar.

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The Earth spins below stars and galaxies.

 

Text, at-a-GLANCE, OBSERVING VOLCANIC ACTIVITY FROM SPACE

 

Two globes of the Earth labeled SURFACE MAP and ATMOSPHERE MAP. The surface map globe has gray for oceans and green and beige for land. The atmosphere map has white land and blue oceans with swooshes of violet in the northern hemisphere.

 

Text, With their perspective from above, satellites have a unique view of changes to Earth's surface and atmosphere.

 

A volcano spews lava into the air.

 

Text, When Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted, satellites were able to track the spread of ash particles through the atmosphere in different ways.

 

Side-by-side pictures of the ash plume. The left side is blue with a gray streak of ash. The right side is blue with a red, orange, yellow, and green streak of ash.

 

Text, In the satellite photograph on the left, we see Eyjafjallajokull's ash plume from space as it appears to the human eye. This shows the distance ash had spread across the Atlantic Ocean.

 

The satellite image on the right shows how high the volcanic ash traveled into the atmosphere. Red indicates ash reaching nearly four miles into the air.

 

The majority of the plume is red.

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An Icelandic speech bubble

 

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[POP]

 

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Hmm?

 

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Question marks in another speech bubble

 

More Icelandic speech

 

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[WHIRLING]

 

[SPEAKING ICELANDIC]

 

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Hmm.

 

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Exclamation marks in another speech bubble

 

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Eyjafjallajökull in Icelandic, translates to: island, mountain, glacier

 

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Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano became famous in 2010 when its eruption brought much of the air travel over Europe to a halt.

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Text, A Volcano Menaces the Skies

 

A volcano erupts. Text, on March 21, 2010, just around midnight, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland rumbled to life for the first time in nearly 200 years.

 

NASA satellites had already been monitoring Earth when the volcano awoke.

 

The view from space of the volcano.

 

March 24, 2010. Lava seeped toward the east.

 

White columns of volcanic gases and steam from melting snow boiled into the air.

 

New vents opened in the Earth, spilling forth more molten rock.

 

As the volcano's heat melted snow and ice, hundreds of people evacuated their homes in areas threatened by flooding.

 

It was the beginning of a saga that would end up stranding millions more.

 

On April 14, 2010, Eyjafjallajökull erupted again, this time pumping out vast clouds of volcanic ash.

 

The ash rose into the jet stream, the fast-moving current of air where airplanes fly to save fuel.

 

The jet stream carried the ash over Europe.

 

The fine, glassy particles threatened to clog plane engines. Across Europe, flights were canceled.

 

Travelers were stranded for days as the governments of over 30 countries tried to determine when it would be safe to fly again.

 

The critical question was where the ash had traveled.

 

How high was it in the atmosphere?

 

Fortunately, satellites were able to help provide an answer.

 

Tracking the ash. An aerial view over the volcano.

 

A green rectangle highlights the area between Iceland and volcanic ash.

 

Text, Mapping ash in the atmosphere. Satellites mapped the location of ash in the sky, keeping airplanes and passengers out of harm's way.

 

NASA Terra Satellite Data, Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, April 19, 2010. A color-coded map of ash height. Text, Satellite monitoring, shown here, informed scientists when the danger of ash in the jet stream had passed and air travel could resume safely.

 

Four aerial views of Ulawun Volcano in Papua New Guinea, Shiveluch Volcano in Russia, Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand, and Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in Hawaii. Text, Satellites have been observing volcanoes for years, allowing scientists and engineers to develop proven techniques for monitoring eruptions.

 

Volcanoes have always been an unpredictable force of nature.

 

With the help of satellite imagery, we come closer to understanding these volatile giants.

 

A volcano erupts.

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Title, Myth vs Reality. Text under Myth, Volcanoes on land exist only in hot climates. 

 

Text under Reality, Volcanoes can form in any climate. For example, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano resides in the subarctic climate of Iceland, and numerous volcanoes exist under the ice in Antarctica. Earth's continents are part of massive slabs of rock known as tectonic plates, which are in continuous motion. Most volcanoes form along plate boundaries, where the plates collide or spread apart, but some form far from plate boundaries in places known as hot spots. Plate boundaries and hot spots are independent of climate zones.

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Text, World of Change. The Earth spins in space surrounded by stars that twinkle. Text, Devastation and Recovery at Mount St. Helens.

 

An enormous column of smoke erupts high into the atmosphere above the clouds from the summit of a volcano. Text, Mount St. Helens, Washington State. On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, blasting volcanic debris across 230 square miles. NASA satellites witnessed the eruption's aftermath and the recovery that has taken place in the years since.

 

Satellite false-color imagery of Mount St. Helens in 1979 displays a snow-capped summit. Spirit Lake is indicated nearby. Text, This image shows Mount St. Helens before the eruption. Early images like this are in false color, and vegetation appears red. Later images present natural color views.

 

Watch as vegetation slowly reclaims the land after the eruption, replacing the gray-colored ash and debris around the volcano.

 

In 1980 a large portion of the terrain is covered in ash, including the lake. Ash remains through the '80s.

 

The lake changes dramatically in shape as the terrain is reformed into the '90s.

 

By 1995 vegetation starts to creep back. 

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Aerial view of Sarychev Volcano

 

Text, SARYCHEV VOLCANO, Matua Island, Russia

 

An ash plume rises from a volcano.

 

Text, An astronaut on the International Space Station took this picture of Sarychev Volcano on Russia's Matua Island as it erupted on June 12, 2009.

 

The ash plume billows high into the atmosphere and has a rounded white dome top.

 

Text, The curious-looking plume appears to have punched a hole through the clouds surrounding the volcano.

 

A picture of an opening in a circle of clouds through which the plume rises.

 

Text, The shockwave of the eruption may have formed the smooth white cloud atop the plume as hot air cooled.