November 1, 2014 - Eruption at Bardarbunga, Iceland (false color)

Eruption at Bardarbunga, Iceland (false color)

After nearly two months, the eruption at the Bárdarbunga volcano’s Holuhraun lava field continues nearly unabated. Fountains of lava began to spill from a fissure at Holuhraun on August 29, accompanied by effusive activity, steam, and strong gases.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Bárdarbunga on October 21, and captured a false-color image of the eruption. The image uses a combination of infrared and visible light (bands 7-2-1) to highlight the heat signatures of the erupting lava and to distinguish glacial ice from clouds. In this image, glacial ice is electric blue, clouds are white, vegetation is bright green, and the hotspot, detected by thermal sensors, is colored red. The volcanic plume and vog (volcanic smog) is a light grayish-white.

According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, in the 24 hour period ending on October 21, about 70 earthquakes were detected around the caldera rim, the strongest of which was magnitude 5.3. This is similar to recent activity. Lava flow continued unabated, with the lava field expanding.

On October 31, the report was updated to state that conditions at Bárdarbunga were unchanged regarding earthquakes, subsidence and gas pollution. The energy of the geothermal areas in Bárdarbunga is now few hundred megawatts and the melting of water is estimated around 2 cubic meters per second. The water goes into Skjálfandafljót og Jökulsá á Fjöllum, but the flow is too small to affect the total water flow of the rivers.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 10/21/2014
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC