Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features a massive ash plume rising from the most active volcano in Ecuador, the Sangay volcano.
According to NASA, the month of November brought a new round of explosions, volcanic tremors, and gas and emissions to Sangay.
“In the early part of the month, the steep-sided, glacier-covered Sangay volcano also coughed up ash,” says NASA. “On a day when the volcanic plume was particularly straight due to southeasterly winds, the Landsat 8 satellite captured this image despite some afternoon cloud cover.”
The Ecuadoran Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School (IG-EPN) reports that ash and gas plumes from Sangay were observed daily from November 1-8.
‘Plumes generally rose to a height of 1.8 kilometers (1.2 miles) during that period, though they also reported one plume being lofted as high as 8.3 kilometers on November 4, 2022,” says NASA.
“The activity has caused minor to moderate amounts of ash to fall in several nearby cities including Riobamba, Guamote, Colta, Alausí, Pallatanga, Chambo, and Chunchi. According to news reports, ash fell on at least 1,824 hectares (7 square miles) of crops, affecting thousands of farmers and ranchers.”
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer
