NASA says Tonga volcanic eruption made world's tallest ash plume ever seen by satellites

NASA stated that the Tonga volcano eruption in the Pacific in January that blasted into the atmosphere was the tallest ash plume ever observed by satellites. As per the reports of Insider, two weather satellites passed overhead as the Pacific volcano ejected ashes into the sky with a force equivalent to 10 megatons of TNT. The GOES-17 and Himawari-8 spacecraft, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, took infrared images of the eruption every 10 minutes for roughly 13 hours.

Scientists at NASA's Langley Research Center calculated that the ash plume from this volcanic eruption soared 56 kilometres into the air at its greatest point, reaching the mesosphere. In comparison, the ash plume from the Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991 rose only 35 kilometres into the air.  Mount Pinatubo's eruption in 1991 was the largest known volcanic plume ever captured by satellites. That plume soared 35 kilometres over the Philippines, into the stratosphere, yet just missed the mesosphere.

The ashes reached the mesosphere

NASA scientists stated that the initial eruption of the Tonga volcano threw the ashes over 58 kilometres upward, reaching the mesosphere, which is the region where meteorites fall to Earth burn up and produce shooting stars blazing across the night sky. The volcanic plume travelled that distance in about 30 minutes.

Tonga's volcano was submerged for a long time. When it erupted beneath the sea and unexpectedly rose, forming a landmass that united two pre-existing islands, Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai, it drew the attention of scientists in 2015. A sequence of severe eruptions in January wiped off the infant island and tore major portions of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai away. Although the region was deserted, the eruption devastated homes, boats, and fisheries in surrounding populated islands. The World Bank stated that the disaster cost $90.4 million, or 20% of Tonga's GDP, according to the Insider.

The latest generation of geostationary satellites captured it effectively

Kristopher Bedka who is an atmospheric scientist at NASA Langley stated that the storm cloud formed by the eruption is significantly more intense than any storm cloud he has ever observed, according to the Insider. He also stated that they are lucky that the latest generation of geostationary satellites captured it so effectively, and that they can use this data to track its progress in novel ways.

Image: @NASAAtmosphere/Twitter