You have likely seen stunning images of the night side of the earth from space. Most people have seen the true constellations of city lights familiarly scattered across the continents and separated by vast oceans of darkness. You may have seen some stunning videos from the ISS showing the dynamic and mesmerizing ribbons of polar aurora and the even more frenetic flashes of nightly thunderstorms. If you’ve read this website a lot, you’ve probably even seen the effects of power outages during the catastrophic winter storms of February 2021 in Houston. Add another explosively extraordinary phenomenon to the list of night space views. the volcanic eruption in March 2021 in Iceland !.
A shield volcano in Iceland called Mount Fagradalsfall erupted in mid-March after centuries of calm. The exact location of the eruption is in an adjacent valley known as the Wallachadalur Valley. The area can be seen as a new bright spot in the southwest of the North Atlantic island. The brilliant volcanism seems almost as bright as Reykjavik, about fifty kilometers to the northeast.
VIIRS image of Iceland before the eruption. Photo credit: Joshua Stevens and the NASA Earth Observatory VIIRS image of Iceland during the eruption. Notice the bright spot in the southwest of the island. The bright lights of the city northeast of the eruption come from Rekjavik, the capital: Photo credit: Joshua Stevens and NASA Earth Observatory
The night images published by NASA’s Earth Observatory consist of data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). Flying on board the Suomi NPP satellite mission VIIRS collects light in both the visible and the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Another orbital view provides a more detailed close-up view of the eruption. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on board Landsat 8 shows a Tolkienesque infrared view of the Icelandic outbreak.
OLI image of clouds lit by lava below in shortwave and near infrared. Joshua Stevens and NASA Earth Observatory
While these images are exciting, at this point there is no need to be alarmed or worry about the citizens of Iceland. Shield volcanoes (Kilauea, Hawaii is a famous example) are not violently explosive. While they can produce copious amounts of lava and eruptions can last for years, they are relatively predictable and, at least as far as volcanoes are concerned, peaceful.
The Suomi nuclear power plant satellite, which contains several instruments for mapping the earth, including VIIRS. Photo credit: NASA
These unprecedented views of the eruption seen from various space-based, earth-focused observatories are breathtaking. The advances science has made in understanding the planet is impressive. The plate tectonics theory that explains Iceland’s famous geological activity wasn’t widely accepted until the 1960s! It is mind-boggling not to understand the basic activities of the earth’s crust and to have multiple satellites providing fine-resolution observations as they move nearly ten kilometers per second in space. Should you be approached by someone who has doubts about the importance of space programs, remind them that these programs give us extraordinary insights into our homeworld. Life on earth is immeasurably improved through programs such as VIIRS and OMI, among others. Come on, what’s cooler than watching an ancient Icelandic volcano erupt from space at night?
Mission statement: Comparison of the VIIRS images of Iceland before and during the outbreak. Photo credit: Joshua Stevens and NASA Earth Observatory
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Earth observation center VIIRS
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