Images of the Eruption

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A cloud of smoke and ash is seen over the Grimsvötn volcano on Iceland on May 21, 2011. (Sigurlaug Linnet/AFP/Getty Images)	A plane flies past a smoke plume resulting from the eruption of the Grimsvötn volcano, May 21, 2011. (Olafur Sigurjonsson/Reuters)	(Jon Gustafsson/Associated Press)	Aerial view of the eruption of the volcano Grimsvötn.	Smoke plume from the Grimsvötn volcano.

AOPP Oxford observations of May 2011 Grimsvötn eruption

This page provides an overview of research performed within the Earth Observation Data Group (EODG) of the Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics (AOPP) department at the University of Oxford, relating to the May 2011 eruption of the volcano at Grimsvötn in Iceland. This work is funded mainly through grants from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), including the NERC National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO). The Grimsvotn volcano lies under the Vatnajokull glacier, about 120 miles, (200 kilometers) east of the capital, Rejkjavik. The volcano began erupting around 1900 GMT on May 21, 2011 for the first time since 2004. In less than an hour the cloud had reached an altitude of 11 kilometers (6.8 miles).

22 May 2011 am Click image to enlarge

A false colour image from the AATSR instrument of the Grimsvötn volcanic eruption in Iceland on the 22nd of May. The image covers an area of approximately 500 x 700 km and is coloured to highlight volcanic ash clouds, which appear as a rusty-brown colour. Water clouds appear white in the image, while ice-clouds, snow and glacial ice appear pale blue. The main volcanic plume is clearly visible near the centre of the image, casting a shadow toward the North-West. Wind blown ash clouds can also be seen extending to both the North and South of the volcano itself, overlying both water and ice clouds, which suggests they are at an altitude of at least a few km. This image was collected at approximately 1:30 pm BST, 22/05/2011. The Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) is a British instrument flying on board ESA's Envisat satellite. Credit Dr Gareth Thomas.

21 - 26 May 2011 Click image to enlarge

SO2 fractional enhancment obtained from IASI data. This is a flag that shows anomalously high concentrations of SO2. Often SO2 and ash is injected at the same height to that they are colocated for serveral days after the eruption. However some eruptions inject ash and SO2 at different altitudes so that they subsequently follow different trajectories. Credit Dr Elisa Carboni.

24 May 2011 am Click image to enlarge

24 May 2011 pm. Click image to enlarge

SO2 frames for the 24 May. Credit Dr Elisa Carboni.

21 - 26 May 2011 Click image to enlarge

(Left) Amount of SO2 (in Dobson Units) retrieved from IASI data. (Right) Approximate height of the SO2 plume. Credit Dr Elisa Carboni.

24 May 2011 Click image to enlarge

24 May 2011 Click image to enlarge