It was over a week ago when the world's largest active volcano stirred to life for the first time after 38 years. Since then, the Mauna Loa volcano had been releasing lava fountains as high as a 13-story building and driving rivers of molten rock up to 8 miles down the mountainside.
Satellite images and experts from the US Geological Survey have captured breathtaking photos and images of the volcanic eruption that started late on November 27. The area near the eruption has even become a tourist attraction as thousands line up to take a picture of the lava flow.
Landsat 9 Satellite Images Show Lava Flow of Mauna Loa Eruption
Lansat 9's Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) captured the ongoing eruption at Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii on December 2. The natural-color satellite image shared on Landsat Image Gallery shows that the lava from the Hawaiian volcano is moving north toward the Daniel K. Inouye Highly, also known as Saddle Road.
According to the photo's caption, the image is overlaid with infrared data from OLI-2 on Landsat 9 to show the location of warms areas associated with the flowing lava.
Landsat 9 was launched into low-Earth orbit on September 27, 2021, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, as per NASA. The data from Landsat 9 is publicly available from USGS and continues to play a critical role in monitoring, understanding, and managing the planet's land resources crucial for sustaining human life.
Landsat is the only satellite system by the US that is designed and operated to constantly observe the global land surface at a moderate scale that captures both natural and human-induced changes.
Satellites Track Mauna Loa Eruption
The USGS said in a statement previously that the Mauna Loa's lava has remained fairly contained and is not threatening any property. Satellite images have helped gather more data about the eruption as the situation evolves over the week.
Space.com reported that satellites operated by the Colorado-based Maxar captured a nighttime view on November 28 that shows the caldera, now full of lava, with intricate flows of molten rock glowing brightly at the summit's northeast. The company also shared a striking daylight view of the volcano from July and a third photo before the eruption.
Aside from private satellites, government satellites are also keeping an eye on the eruption. The European Space Agency's (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite also captured some images of the eruption on November 28, showing the clouds of gas billowing off the eruption while the infrared data highlights the lava flow.
Meanwhile, NASA released a view of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere on the same date. The agency's Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) sensor as well as U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites can measure how high the sulfur dioxide reaches Earth's atmosphere to see how energetic the eruption is.
USGS officials expect the lava flow to remain within the Northeast Rift Zone based on its current state.
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