BoM-Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre

The paroxysmal eruption of 27 January 2005 occurred at night and in cloudy conditions. At least one death and many injuries were reported, and the monitoring station operated by Rabaul Volcano Observatory was destroyed.

Image Source: NASA Aqua/MODIS, 27 January 2005, 15:35 UTC

Comments: In the enhanced infrared image above, a 'warm spot' over the volcano indicates that the eruption has penetrated into the stratosphere, where temperatures begin to warm. Atmospheric winds quickly took some of the lower level sulphur dioxide, ash, and ice from the eruption westwards, creating the 'point' on the west of the cloud. The cloud to the southeast of the umbrella cloud is thunderstorm cloud. This image is taken at least an hour after the peak of the eruption, when the umbrella cloud had a diameter of approximately 180 km. The estimated altitude of the eruption was 21-24 km.

Source: NASA AIRS images, processed and kindly provided by Dr Fred Prata, CSIRO Atmospheric Research Australia. These data are preliminary and unpublished.

Comments: The images above show the spread of the sulphur dioxide from the eruption, to about 3800 km NW of Manam, over the next few days. Approximately 235,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide were measured in the eruption cloud. The OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) image below shows the sulphur dioxide cloud approximately twelve hours after the eruption. The extent and detail of the cloud is very similar to the matching AIRS image above, but this image has also detected a westward extension of the sulphur dioxide, caused by an upper tropospheric jet taking a thin layer of ice, ash and gas from the eruption westwards quickly.

Manam Eruption

Image: OMI sulphur dioxide, 28 January 2005, courtesy Dr Simon Carn (Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology / University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA).

Comments: The java loop above show the ice-rich clouds from the eruption (in blue). Near the start of the sequence, only the fringes of the cloud are visible, as the infrared technique used requires the cloud to have thinned out. The westward moving front of the cloud in the troposphere is very faintly visible.

Some TOMS sulphur dioxide images from this eruption are available on the website of the TOMS Volcanic Emissions Group. See also our publications page for discussion on the Manam eruptions.

Manam, Papua New Guinea, 27-28 January 2005