The Pacific Rim, has been quite volatile throughout the years, ranging from volcanic eruptions to earthquakes to tsunami’s, that are produced along the Rim or nearby. Yesterday, 22 January 2018, around noon local time, the Mayon Volcano in the Philippines erupted where fragments of lava, ash and steam ejected into the sky. The volcano is located in the Mayon Volcano Natural Park, approximately 300 miles southeast of the Manila capital of the Philippines. Several thousands of people have been evacuated from the area and have been told to stay clear of the area by local authorities.
Below, is a complementary imagery band (I-4), infrared image, of the ‘hotspots’ of the volcano, several hours after the eruption occurred at 1733Z, 22 January 2018. Note that at this time-stamp, the image is taken during the nighttime hours, that is, the local time is 0133, 23 January 2018. The spatial resolution of the image is at 375 meters.
In the imagery, one can see the hotspots of the volcano, within the white circle, seen in the yellow, orange and red colors, expressed in 310K + brightness temperatures values. What is also noticed, are the surrounding clouds and convection (seen in navy blue colors) within the domain. These features are low-lying clouds and convection due to the significantly cooler temperatures these features express, near 270K, in comparison to the green-yellow colors that exhibit the land/ocean temperatures, ~290K.
What cannot be seen in the imagery are what areas are clouds and what areas are volcanic ash, within the white circle? This question is answered utilizing the EUMETSAT Ash product via the CIRA/RAMMB slider, below. Look closely at the video link below, between 15-19Z, 22 January 2018, which highlights the evolution of the volcanic ash plume (seen in pink) from the Mayon Volcano within the white rectangle. The ash can be easily distinguished from the ambient low-level clouds, seen in light-green colors.