Iceland volcano from Space: The Dramatic Ash Plume Engulfing Britain and 'Nightmarish Face'

Daily Mail (UK) ^ | April 16th 2010 | Calire Bates

[Steelfish]

Iceland volcano from Space: The Dramatic Ash Plume Engulfing Britain and 'Nightmarish Face' Seen From Above [Pics in URL] CLAIRE BATES 16th April 2010

Created deep in the volcanic bowels of Iceland, this is the dramatic plume of ash engulfing the UK as seen from space. The hazy cloud spewing from the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano was captured by the Modis instrument on board Nasa's Terra and Aqua satellites, which view the entire Earth's surface once every two days. Modis was designed to respond rapidly so it can track natural disasters such as floods and forest fires in near real time.

The plume from the Icelandic volcano - seen as a grey-brown streak drifting across the middle of the image - is visible from space. It was imaged by the Modis instruments on two Nasa satellites as it blew towards the Shetland Islands In this natural-colour image taken yesterday, we can see the volcanic plume moving south-easterly from southern Iceland. It blows past the Faroe Islands and arcs slightly towards the north near the Shetland Islands. The tan hue indicates a fairly high ash content.

The spread of volcanic ash prompted authorities in the UK, Ireland, France, and Scandinavia to close airspace over their countries. The airspace closure had a ripple effect, disrupting flights all over the world. Unlike the soft, fluffy material that results from burned vegetation, volcanic ash consists of tiny jagged particles of rock. (snip)

It is not known how long the airspace closures will last because it depends on how long the volcano continues to erupt as well as wind direction. The scream: A radar image shows the crater of Eyjafjallajokull in southeast Iceland, which looks like the nightmarish face painted by Edvard Munch

[Hulka]

Looks like I may get to the Cavendish a little early, maybe 1530.

Is that okay?

[wolfcreek]

Our paper is full of articles on how Hollywood celebs, Rock stars and film critics are unable to get to festivals/concerts and such or how much money the airlines and travel people are losing.

Petty materialist things. Losing sight of the *big* picture here.

[cajungirl]

great! We are here.

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

I am sheduled to go to Iceland and the Faroe Island next years, guess I will have some more ash to go with my Mt. St. Helens.

How did the Mt. St. Helen's ashfall get down into Texas? ... LOL ...

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

So, I am feeling quite worn out by the whole situation, wondering if I will get home before I go bankrupt.

Ummmm..., how about travelling by rail (or car or whatever) south into Europe and then taking off from another city in Europe not affected by the ashfall?

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

I am seriously thinking of a cruise ship to get home.

Won't a flight from another European city get you home?

[Quix]

Thanks for the link:

Acute Pulmonary Affects of Mt. St. Helens Volcanic Ash

http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/content/81/5_Supplement/71S.full.pdf

[Quix]

No. I haven’t.

Please let us know!

[Quix]

INDEED.

I felt the same way thinking the same thing.

[Cyber Liberty]

I call it the small volcano with the large name. Act two of this play will be when the large volcano with the small name goes off.

[Quix]

Sigh.

Get ready California.

[Cyber Liberty]

From my local paper: “ay-yah-FYAH’-plah-yer-kuh-duhl”

Doesn’t help me at all....

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Hulka]

Everything is booked solid heading to the continent. No rental cars to be had. |Ferries overbooked. Rail, no more tickets to be had. This is an island, after all, and with the airspace shutdown and surface routes clogged and jammed. . .stuck. European airspace closed as well. Portugal and Spain may be open for short windows, but flights over-booked there as well.

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

This is an island, after all, and with the airspace shutdown and surface routes clogged and jammed. . .stuck.

Well, it was "that sort of thing" which caused me to have 1/4 English blood in me... :-)

My grandmother came over from England on a vacation trip (as a teenager), got stuck and couldn't get back because of "conditions" (in her case World War 1), and ended up living here and never returning again, to her native country and/or seeing her relatives again over there. She got married to an American (my grandfather) and thus, the "rest of us" arrived shortly thereafter ...

I hope you don't end up living in England for the rest of your life ... LOL ...

[razorback-bert]

By air....plane, a friend of mine picked up a vial of it for me.

[Hulka]

Yeah, seems I am turning “Brit” the longer I stay.

Better than being stuck in Saudi. . .ewwwwwm . .

[Joya]

Based on post 19 here, I doubt I will ever buy a plane ticket through a travel agency:

= = =
Hulka said

... ‘soon the American lounge was empty and I had all the food to myself. Then the Virgin flight was cancelled.

‘I then called Virgin. After a long time on hold, Virgin picked up and after a chat they told me that because my booking was done through a travel agent they can’t help me. Told me to contact the agency that made the booking. Okay.

‘I called the travel agency, and after a long wait and short chat, was told they would call me back.

‘I waited and waited and waited and eventually they did call back. I explained the situation and was then told she would call me back.

‘She did.

‘No help, was told I need to deal with Virgin at the airport. ...’

[LibertyRocks]

If I hear anything I surely will. Seems to be warmer today, and not so much wind. It sure was strange though. No thunderstorms in our area either. I think Spring is confused!

[Quix]

Hmmmmmmm

Thx.