On June 4, 2011 the Cordón Caulle volcano complex in Chile erupted sending volcanic ash high into the atmosphere. A combination of small ash particles, which take a long time to fall to Earth, and the high winds of the jet stream has resulted in this ash plume being carried great distances to the east – crossing Argentina, the Atlantic, South Africa, Indian Ocean, Australia and New Zealand towards the Pacific Ocean.
Starting on June 5, the following image sequence, based on data from Meteosat-9, MTSAT-1R and GOES-11 satellites maps the spread of the ash cloud around the southern hemisphere. Bright red indicates the highest ash concentrations.
Credit: Darwin VAAC. Source agencies NOAA, JMA and EUMETSAT
The Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre has an animated version of the sequence.
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