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February 4, 2002 08:00 CDT
Three NASA spacecraft have chronicled the devastation caused by the Jan. 17 eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano in Congo.
The African eruption killed more than 100 people and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands more. At least 12,000 homes were destroyed in and around Goma, a city of half a million people on the north shore of Lake Kivu. Effects were felt well into neighboring Rwanda.
Above: The Nyiragongo volcano in Congo erupted on January 17, 2002, and subsequently sent streams of lava into the city of Goma on the north shore of Lake Kivu. More than 100 people were killed, more than 12,000 homes were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands were forced to flee the broader community of nearly half a million people. Click image to enlarge.
The images sent from the three satellites combine data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, or Aster, and Landsat to depict areas affected by the eruption of volcano.
The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission was flown aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour February 11-22, 2000. The mission collected 3-D measurements of Earth's land surface using radar interferometry, which compares two radar images taken at slightly different locations to obtain elevation or surface-change information. To collect the data, engineers added an approximately 200-foot mast, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices.
Right: The Nyiragongo volcano in Congo erupted on January 17, 2002, and subsequently sent streams of lava into the city of Goma on the north shore of Lake Kivu. More than 100 people were killed, more than 12,000 homes were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands were forced to flee the broader community of nearly half a million people.
Click image to enlarge.
The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of about 50 to 300 feet, Aster will image Earth for the next six years to map and monitor the changing planet surface.
The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of Aster will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change.
Left:
The Nyiragongo volcano in Congo erupted on January 17, 2002, and subsequently sent streams of lava into the city of Goma on the north shore of Lake Kivu. More than 100 people were killed, more than 12,000 homes were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands were forced to flee the broader community of nearly half a million people. This Landsat satellite image shows the volcano (right of center), the city of Goma, and surrounding terrain. Image data from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite were used to supply a partial map of the recent lava flows (red overlay), including a complete mapping of their intrusion into Goma as of January 28, 2002. Lava is also apparent within the volcanic crater and at a few other locations.
Click image to enlarge.
Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; evaluating wetlands; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils
and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.
Landsat is a cooperative mission between NASA and the United States Geological Survey. Launched April 15, 1999, Landsat 7 is the latest in a series that began with Landsat 1 in 1972. The satellite is gathering data from Earth's land surface and surrounding coastal regions.
Analysis of the data will provide scientists with new
information on deforestation, receding glaciers and
crop monitoring. Images are archived, processed and
distributed by the USGS, which is also responsible for
day-to-day operations of the satellite.
The volcano, approximately 11,385 feet high, is one of eight located in the East African Rift Valley on the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Included are both pre-eruption and post-eruption perspective views, a post-eruption map view and a pre-eruption stereoscopic view (anaglyph). The extent of lava flow is clearly visible in the post-eruption views. The volcano last erupted in 1977 killing hundreds of people.
Source: NASA
Courtesy of Kennedy Space Center
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