Since it began erupting on June 12, 2011, emissions from
Eritrea’s Nabro Volcano have drifted over much of East Africa
and the Middle East. Ash has displaced residents living near the
volcano and disrupted flights in the region. Despite the
volcano’s widespread effects, little is known about the
eruption. Nabro is located in an isolated region along the
border between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and few English-language
reports have been published. Satellite remote sensing is
currently the only reliable way to monitor the ongoing eruption.
This pair of satellite images are among the first detailed
pictures of the erupting vent and lava flows. They were acquired
by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard the Earth Observing-1
(EO-1) satellite on June 24, 2011. The bright red portions of
the false-color image (top) indicate hot surfaces. Hot volcanic
ash glows above the vent, located in the center of Nabro’s
caldera. To the west of the vent, portions of an active lava
flow (particularly the front of the flow) are also