Kamchatka, Russia hosts some of the most active volcanoes on earth. Among those is Kliuchevskoi stratovolcano, erupting almost constantly, and the tallest volcano in Kamchatka. In this snow-covered winter image (left), an eruption plume rising to 7.5 km, is streaming from the summit in a northeast direction. The thermal infrared image (right) reveals additional information: the bright material on the east side of the summit is a hot, recent lava flow; the eruption plume is displayed in blue, revealing its composition as dominated by ice mixed with ash. The thermal data are noisy because of the very low signal from the cold scene. The data were acquired December 2, 2020, cover an area of 27 by 30 km, and are located at 56.1 degrees north, 160.7 degrees east.

With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of about 50 to 300 feet (15 to 90 meters), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on Terra. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and data products.

The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.

The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

More information about ASTER is available at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/.