National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Kelut (Kelud) Eruption- February 13, 2014

East Java, Indonesia

(7.93 S, 112.308 E), Elevation 1731 m

 

Summary

 

At roughly 23:15 local time (16:15 UTC), Kelut, a volcano in East Java, Indonesia, erupted a mixture of gas, ash and water. The eruption was short lived and no subsequent explosions have been reported. The eruption was viewed by a number of satellites (see list below), which have helped to constrain eruption parameters such as injection height, plume motion and dispersal. The inertial plume ejected material up to 26 km in the atmosphere, well into the tropical stratosphere. However, most of the plume remained lower in the atmosphere at 19-20 km.

 

Meteorological satellites (MTSAT) showed the plume moving West, away from Indonesia and out over the Indian Ocean. By 19:00, MTSAT does not show any new material being added by the volcano (based on temperature anomaly) and by 21:00 UTC MTSAT shows that the bulk of the plume had moved out over the Indian Ocean.

 

A number of sensors continued to track the plume over the next few days. As the plume continued to move West over the Indian Ocean, it thinned and spread out, following local atmospheric circulation. Aerosol index returns show that much of the ash injected into the atmosphere was removed by three days after the eruption. The SO₂ plume remained more coherent and could still be seen clearly in OMI and OMPS data 4 days after the eruption. OMI estimates suggest that SO₂ is being removed from the plume at a rate of roughtly 0.01 Tg per day. IASI data suggests that the removal is happening more rapidly, at a rate of 0.02 - 0.03 Tg per day, however IASI reported higher initial concentrations of SO₂ than OMI.

 

History (GVP)

Last eruption: October 2007 (VEI 2)

-        February 10, 1990, TOMS AI, est. 150 kt of SO2- VEI 4

-        Additional history can be found at: http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=263280

 

Start

At 02/13/2014 15:32 UTC the eruption had not yet begun. By 02/13/2014 16:32 UTC (Kelut is UTC+7) the eruption was underway (MTSAT-2 images provided by Mike Pavolonis (NOAA).

 

The eruption start time is estimated between 23:15 - 23:29 local time (16:15 - 16:29 UTC), based on pictures posted by volcanologist Erik Klemetti and local reports.

 

Duration

 

Based on reports from the BNPB (Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management) and news networks, the eruption was short lived and no subsequent explosions followed the initial blast.

 

Plume Height

-        Darwin VAAC detected ash at 15km at 0900 UTC

-        MLS detected the plume at 68 mb, ~18 km

-        MTSAT-2 detected temperatures of -60 C in plume center with a ring of -75 to -80 C

-        Calipso/CALIOP detected the plume top at 26 km with the bulk of the plume at 19 km, UTC 18:00:02.5 - 18:22:35.8

-        OMPS (L1B SDR) aerosol layer 23-24 km, orbit 11916

 

SO₂ and Ash Mass 14 Feb 2014

-        OMPS SO₂ ~0.8 Tg (Kai Yang suggests OMPS is the more accurate estimate)

-        OMI SO₂ ~0.12 Tg with row anomaly covering part of the cloud, extrapolating for this area the observed SO₂ mass might be ~0.2 Tg from OMI

-        OMI AI > 20 in places, suggesting high altitude ash

-        AIRS SO₂ ~0.12 Tg, more consistent with OMI

o   Results from Fred Prata for AIRS (exact retrieval times not given)

o   13.02.2014  Afternoon 0.028 Tg  (Comment: SO2 masked by cloud and ash - therefore unreliable)

o   14.02.2014  Morning   0.172 ± 0.02 Tg

o   14.02.2014  Afternoon 0.167 ± 0.02 Tg

o   15.02.2014  Morning   0.179 ± 0.02 Tg

-        IASI-B SO₂ ~ 0.19 Tg on the morning of 14 Feb 2014

-        GOME-2B ~ 0.15 Tg

-        Calipso/ CALIOP 13 February 2014 UTC 18:00:02.5 - 18:22:35.8

o   passed to the West of Kelut, close to the volcano and sampled the plume shortly after the eruption

o   A small amount of backscatter is observed at 26 km but most of the plume is clearly visible at 18 - 19 km

 

SO₂ and Ash Mass Subsequent Days

-        OMPS AI > 3 in a few pixels, suggests most ash has settled out

-        OMI SO₂

o   15 Feb 0718 UTC ~ 0.12 Tg

o   16 Feb 0803 UTC ~ 0.11 Tg

o   17 Feb 0709 UTC ~ 0.0987 Tg

-        OMI AI

o   15 Feb 0718 UTC - max had fallen to 6

o   16 Feb 0803 UTC - ash plume no longer appears well defined

-        IASI-B SO₂

o   14 Feb 2014 pm: 0.161 Tg

o   15 Feb 2014 am: 0.146 Tg

o   15 Feb 2014 pm: 0.110 Tg

-        Calipso/ CALIOP

o   14 February 2014 UTC 6:22:37.9 to 6:45:11.2, The plume is still clearly visible but beginning to disperse. There is still a small amount of material at 20 km and the bulk of the plume now resides between 12 - 15 km.

o   15 February 2014 UTC 7:07:48.8 to 7:30:07.2, The plume is visibly thinning at lower altitudes with less material present between 12 - 15 km than there was a day earlier. There is still material visible at 19 km and it has spread out in the atmosphere. The color ratio of the material at 19 km has decreased since the earlier retrievals, which may suggest particle growth.

 

 

 

Detected By

AIRS

Aqua MODIS

Calipso/ CALIOP

Darwin VAAC

GOME2 MetOp A&B

IASI-B

MLS

MTSAT-2 (VisIRImager) and -1R

OMI

OMPS SO₂ and AI

 

 

Plume detection by AIRS

13 February 2014

Evolution of the plume detected by OMI

 

14 Feb 2014, 0637 UTC

 

 

 

 

15 Feb 2014, 0718 UTC

 

 

 

16 Feb 2014, 0803 UTC

 

 

*17 February 2014, 0709 UTC

 

*It is important to note that an additional SO₂ source is introduced on 02/17/2014 and will mix with the Kelut SO₂ plume over the remaining days of imagery, making any further estimates of SO₂ unreliable for estimating the mass from Kelut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*18 February 2014

 

 

*19 February 2014

 

 

 

*20 February 2014

 

 

*21 February 2014

 

 

*22 February 2014