Land Observation Satellite Monitoring Tonga Volcanic EruptionPublishDate：2022-07-25

　　On January 14 and 15, 2022 local time, the submarine volcano of Hongahaapai Island, about 65 kilometers north of Nuku'alofa, the capital of Tonga in the South Pacific island country, erupted violently. The local communication network was disturbed by volcanic ash and could not communicate with the outside world, in a "disconnected" state. According to the latest analysis of monitoring results, the volcanic eruption may trigger a transoceanic tsunami that will affect the entire Pacific coast.

　　After the disaster, the China Resources Satellite Application Center affiliated to China Aerospace Science and Technology Group Co., Ltd. responded to the international rescue needs in a timely manner, immediately activated the major natural disaster response mechanism, quickly established an emergency special team, and promptly arranged the Gaofen-1 02 satellite and the Environmental Disaster Mitigation No. 2A. The satellite observes the disaster area and provides satellite image data guarantee at the first time.

　　As of January 17, 2022, a total of 2 satellite imaging has been arranged, 1 scene of effective data in the disaster area has been obtained, and 1 scene of historical data has been shared. It has been provided to the National Disaster Reduction Center of the Ministry of Emergency Management, the Land Satellite Remote Sensing Application Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the National Satellite Ocean Application Center. In the follow-up, China Resources Satellite Application Center will scientifically arrange satellite imaging according to the disaster situation and the needs of relevant departments, so as to provide strong support for disaster rescue and disaster assessment.

Figure 1 Gaofen-104 satellite image before the eruption of Tonga volcano (collected on April 30, 2019)

Figure 2 Gaofen-1 02 satellite image after the eruption of Tonga volcano (collected on January 17, 2022)

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