The camera used to capture these eruptions has a CCD that is sensitive to infrared wavelengths. Because of this, the hotter lava has the false-color of bluish-green. In some cases, the aperture of the camera cannot adjust to the bright IR signature of the eruption and becomes saturated.
Please enjoy the movies at left. Newer, higher resoution movies are at the top of the list
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Video and Audio available. |
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Video available only. |
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Audio available only. |
Mt. Erebus Strombolian Eruptions
The preceeding video clips of strombolian eruptions from Mt. Erebus were captured over the past 5 years. Several versions of cameras, transmitter/receivers and video capture software/hardware were used. Early attempts at video capture utilized video cassette recorders and VHS tapes. The quality of these earliest captured eruptions suffered because of the analog media and the degradation of the tape even after just a few playbacks.
Definition:
Strombolian Eruption : A type of volcanic eruption characterized by jetting of clots or fountains of fluid basaltic lava from a central crater.
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/glossary.html
Beginning in 2005, all video (and intermittent audio) from Mt. Erebus is stored on computer hard drives in digital formats. Digital media does not deteriorate with time or the number of viewings, so the quality of captured eruptions is far superior to the VHS tapes. The greater quality of the eruptions is not only more enjoyable to watch, but it also provides the Mt. Erebus Volcano Observatory high resolution, GPS time-code stamped images of eruptions and the lava lake that can be correlated to infrasonic acoustics, seismic signals and gas chemistry.