US-India Satellite Captures Time-lapse Video of Volcanic Eruption
Like tendrils on a vine, lava spreads out from the northern crater of Krasheninnikov, a volcano pair on the Pacific coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. On July 30, 2025, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake had struck in the nearby ocean, apparently jolting one of the two volcanoes awake. A few days later, for the first time in […]
A volcanic eruption captured on film from the sky unfolded on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia between December 2025 and August 2026. The lava field emanating from the northern crater of Krasheninnikov, a dormant volcano, was observed by the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission. On the first day of July 2025, a 8.8-magnitude earthquake had awakened the volcano after nearly five centuries of dormancy.
Over the subsequent months, the northern volcano consistently released a stream of molten rock and debris moving eastward. The NISAR satellite, positioned 464 miles (747 kilometers) above the Earth's surface, tracked these changes as it orbited. Twice every 12 days, the satellite captured detailed radar snapshots of the same location.
These snapshots were compiled into a time-lapse video, demonstrating how NISAR's observations can monitor natural hazards. The L-band radar of NISAR, which operates at a wavelength of 24 centimeters, was particularly effective in highlighting the lava field due to its brighter reflection compared to the surrounding surfaces. The remarkable detail of the single NISAR image was made possible through the use of synthetic aperture radar, a specialized processing technique.
This technique combines thousands of microwave pulses per second, each representing a snapshot of the surface, to create high-resolution images. The precision of NISAR's measurements, coupled with its near-global coverage, proved invaluable in monitoring the development of natural hazards.
Written by urgent.news from NASA's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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