MANILA, Philippines — The area covered by ashfall from Mayon Volcano in Albay has reached around half the size of Quezon City, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) said Tuesday.
PhilSA said it determined the area covered by ash by comparing satellite pictures taken before and after the event.
READ: Mayon debris poses threat to Albay town residents
“Based on the analysis, at least 8,544 hectares ( ~85,440 sqkm) were covered by ashfall,” PhilSA said.
“For comparison, this area is around half the size of Quezon City,” it added.
But PhilSA noted that information derived from satellite data is often constrained by cloud cover.
This means the agency cannot directly determine if ash landed in places hidden by clouds.
“However, the ash deposit extent could be extrapolated by delineating a region around areas classified to have ash deposits,” the PhilSA.
“These results are consistent with projections from atmospheric trajectory modeling and reports from the ground. The map is still subject to ground validation,” it added.
It was on Saturday, May 2 when heavy ashfall from Mayon Volcano blanketed several towns in Albay following a strombolian eruption.
The event also triggered the release of continuous pyroclastic density currents. /mr
