active volcanoes

volcanoes

volcanoes
There are about fifteen hundred active volcanoes, each year about fifty erupt. Most of them are located around the Pacific Ocean, in a belt called the "Ring of Fire" is called. Europe itself has volcanoes in the course of centuries more than once to erupted. Think of the Etna and Vesuvius.

Worldwide, there are at least 500 million people in the vicinity of an active volcano. In an outburst, the areas around get covered under a layer of ash and red-hot lava.

Fields and buildings can be fully buried. Toxic exhaust fumes, clouds of glowing ash or mud flows are released which no escape is possible. Fortunately we can now rely on satellite data to determine what the most dangerous volcanoes.

ESA's Envisat and ERS-2 satellites studying volcanoes in many ways. Cameras allow lava flows and ash clouds seen. Infrared Instruments seek out hot lava comes to the surface.
Mount Etna
The active volcano Mount Etna in Sicily
Radars can see a volcano "breathe", which occurs when moving molten rock inside. Swelling of the surface of only a few millimeters can already point to the build up of pressure prior to an eruption. Other sensors impose gases and particles that volcanic emissions.

With that information in hand, we can save lives and predict the next eruption. And the cards that make satellites are useful in rescue and recovery work.