By Aazam
October 13, 2022
Europe's Copernicus Earth-observing mission Sentinel-2 captured a fascinating image of Italy's Stromboli volcano less than five hours after it erupted in the early hours of October 9
The image, processed in true colors, shows lava in the ocean and huge plumes of smoke and ash rising above the volcano
Stromboli Volcano and its namesake island is located in southern Italy, in the Tyrrhenian Sea at the northern tip of the island of Sicily
About 300 full-time residents live on the island, most in the village of Ginostra, which is marked in the satellite image to the southwest of the volcanic cone
The volcano has erupted repeatedly during the past 90 years, making it one of the most active volcanoes in the world
The Sentinel-2 satellite also observed "hot areas" on Mount Etna, a volcano in Sicily, which is located about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Stromboli
In May 2021, two volcanoes erupted on the same day, which may suggest a link between the two.
Scientists believe that the two volcanoes are separate, disjointed systems, each with its own patterns of eruption and magma generation
The Sentinel-2 mission consists of the Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B Earth observation satellites, which are part of the Copernicus program operated by the European Union, ESA
The Sentinel-5P satellite was recently involved in assessing the scale of the Nord Stream gas pipeline leak