ASTERs ability to sense fine-scale heated surfaces is providing never-before seen views of active volcanic eruptions. These observations provide a detailed look into the eruptive history. Lava flows, hot mud-flows, and other details of eruption activity that cannot be seen using other techniques are revealed. Michael Ramsey of the University of Pittsburgh will present initial observations of the recent phases of two ongoing eruptions in the Caribbean (Montserrat) and Russia (Bezymianny).

In this interactive activity from NOVA Online, explore the main features of the Nyiragongo volcano, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and learn what risks it poses to the 500,000 people who live in its shadow.

Students will review the three types of volcanoes. Students will construct a stratovolcano and determine the composition of each types of volcano. Students will research examples of stratovolcanoes using Internet resources.

Landsat 7 sees the smoke from the Colima Volcano in Mexico.

Zooming down to the Colima Volcano in Mexico using a Landsat thermal image

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists search for carbonized remains of plants preserved in lava flows to find out how long it has taken rain forests on Hawaii to regenerate after a volcanic eruption.

This is one of a series of animations that were produced to be part of the narrated video shown in the HoloGlobe exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the Earth Today exhibit at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

This is one of a series of animations that were produced to be part of the narrated video shown in the HoloGlobe exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the Earth Today exhibit at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientist Mike Garcia draws lava samples at the foot of the active Kilauea volcano to see if it is related to its neighboring volcano, Mauna Loa.

This animation is a zoom into the Ongoing Mount Etna Eruption. The data was acquired from the MODIS instrument at 9:40 UTC on July 24, 2001. The Ash Plume and lava streaming from the volcano are clearly visible.

This multimedia resource produced for Teachers' Domain chronicles the 1980 volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens. Featured are still images of the devastation, video of the eruption plume, and before-and-after satellite images of the affected region.

This GIF image is part of the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory website, which includes pictures (archived and real-time), written reports, seismic data, and other materials on volcanology, including a glossary and links to other relevant sites. These images show Mount St. Helens while it was erupting on May 18th, 1980.

This is simple zoom into the Mount Etna eruption. The plume from the ongoing eruption has changed color since the last SeaWiFS image. In todays image, collected around 7:00 am EST, the ash plume has a greenish orange color in this 670-555-412 nanometer composite.

MODIS captures Mt. Etna's Plume and Smoke Trail

This recent false color Landsat-7 image, from January 2001, shows Mt. Pinatubo as it stands today. The caldera is seen in the middle of the image, underneath clouds. Ten years after the blast, vegetation is re-growing on the slopes of the mountain (in green.) Streams of mud, called lahars, (resulting from ash from the eruption mixing with water- seen as the lighter sediment) continue to flow down the sides of the mountains, as well as channels of water (darker streams). However, as vegetation grows back, the ash becomes more stabilized and less likely to form the destructive lahars.

This recent false color Landsat-7 image, from January 2001, shows Mt. Pinatubo as it stands today. The caldera is seen in the middle of the image, underneath clouds. Ten years after the blast, vegetation is re-growing on the slopes of the mountain (in green.) Streams of mud, called lahars, (resulting from ash from the eruption mixing with water- seen as the lighter sediment) continue to flow down the sides of the mountains, as well as channels of water (darker streams). However, as vegetation grows back, the ash becomes more stabilized and less likely to form the destructive lahars.

This animation clearly shows the ozone around Mt Pinatubo reacting to the eruption. A large ozone hole appears during the eruption and sweeps westward along with the ash cloud,stratospheric sulfur dioxide, and stratospheric sulfuric acid H2SO4.

Students are introduced to our planet's structure and its dynamic system of natural forces through an examination of the natural hazards of earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, tsunamis, floods and tornados, as well as avalanches, fires, hurricanes and thunderstorms. They see how these natural events become disasters when they impact people, and how engineers help to make people safe from them. Students begin by learning about the structure of the Earth; they create clay models showing the Earth's layers, see a continental drift demo, calculate drift over time, and make fault models. They learn how earthquakes happen; they investigate the integrity of structural designs using model seismographs. Using toothpicks and mini-marshmallows, they create and test structures in a simulated earthquake on a tray of Jell-O. Students learn about the causes, composition and types of volcanoes, and watch and measure a class mock eruption demo, observing the phases that change a mountain's shape. Students learn that the different types of landslides are all are the result of gravity, friction and the materials involved. Using a small-scale model of a debris chute, they explore how landslides start in response to variables in material, slope and water content. Students learn about tsunamis, discovering what causes them and makes them so dangerous. Using a table-top-sized tsunami generator, they test how model structures of different material types fare in devastating waves. Students learn about the causes of floods, their benefits and potential for disaster. Using riverbed models made of clay in baking pans, students simulate the impact of different river volumes, floodplain terrain and levee designs in experimental trials. They learn about the basic characteristics, damage and occurrence of tornadoes, examining them closely by creating water vortices in soda bottles. They complete mock engineering analyses of tornado damage, analyze and graph US tornado damage data, and draw and present structure designs intended to withstand high winds.

Students are introduced to natural disasters, and learn the difference between natural hazards and natural disasters. They discover the many types of natural hazards avalanche, earthquake, flood, forest fire, hurricane, landslide, thunderstorm, tornado, tsunami and volcano as well as specific examples of natural disasters. Students also explore why understanding these natural events is important to engineers and everyone's survival on our planet.