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SVE INFO Nyiragongo-Nyamuragira
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From: Gaudru

SVE Information release - 23th of January 2002 - 10 AM - LOCAL TIME

January 23, 2002

On Wednesday 23th of January, eruptive activity was still slowly continuing from the Nyiragongo flanks. Yesterday in the the afternoon from 4PM (GMT) several earthquakes were recorded. Wednesday morning a pharmacy shop in the centre of Goma burned. According to a local source, yesterday evening, an eruptive fissure opened on the flank of the Nyamuragira volcano (about 15 km Northwest to the Nyiragongo) and a lava flowed toward Kibumba. Scientists drove in this area, but they could not confirm this information yet. However, some ashfalls from North occured and covered their vehicle. (further details next)

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European Volcanological Society
UN-ISDR partner C.P.1 - 1211 Geneva 17 Switzerland
Fax : 41.22.759.21.05
Email : HGaudruSVE@compuserve.com
http://www.sveurop.org

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Nyiragongo TOMS data
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From: Simon Carn

Nyiragongo eruption cloud detected by TOMS

The Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) detected a sulfur dioxide (SO2) cloud associated with the January 2002 eruption of Nyiragongo as it flew over the region at around 1100 local time (~0900 UTC) on January 17. No significant amounts of ash were detected by TOMS. At the time of the TOMS overpass the cloud extended up to ~200 km WNW of Nyiragongo and was still attached to the volcano, consistent with nearly coincident MODIS imagery which shows an opaque gas/steam cloud in a similar orientation. TOMS SO2 mass retrievals are dependent on the altitude of the cloud and may be adjusted as more information becomes available, but range between ~10 and 30 kilotons (kt) of SO2. Since the cloud may still have been developing at the time of the TOMS overpass, the final SO2 burden may have been greater. Wind trajectory data (courtesy of Leslie Lait, SSAI) suggest that part of the cloud may have reached at least mid to upper-tropospheric altitudes (up to 10-12 km), but we suspect no significant stratospheric injection of SO2 as a result of this eruption since no SO2 was visible over the D.R. Congo region in subsequent TOMS data on January 18. Gaps between TOMS orbits preclude daily coverage in equatorial regions, and Nyiragongo fell in data gaps on January 18, 20 and 22. No significant amounts of SO2 were apparent on January 19 or 21. The size of the January 17 cloud and the estimated SO2 tonnage are at least an order of magnitude smaller than values typically measured by TOMS during eruptions of nearby Nyamuragira (e.g., in February 2001) suggesting that the Nyiragongo magma may have been largely degassed before eruption. Images can be viewed on the TOMS volcanic emissions website (http://skye.gsfc.nasa.gov).

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Simon Carn & Arlin Krueger
TOMS Volcanic Emissions Group
Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (NASA/UMBC)
University of Maryland
Baltimore County
1000 Hilltop Circle Baltimore, MD 21250 USA