Since 17th of August 2016, lava flows again from the small cone that formed last February in Nyiragongo’s summit crater. The image below is a Very Near Infra Red Sentinel 2 thermal image (Band 8, 842 nm, 10 m resolution) acquired on August 21, 2016. The lava escapes from the small vent (visible as a bright spot to the right side of the crater) and flows down into the lava lake (visible as a dark grey circle crossed by a line of hot spots to the left side of the crater). Thanks to the exceptional conditions (moderate gas plume dispersed by the wind and absence of clouds) one can even see the lava flow that splits in two branches and two subbranches before cascading into the lava lake.

VNIR Sentinel 2 thermal image (Band 8, 842 nm, 10 m resolution) of the Nyiragongo’s summit crater, acquired on August 21, 2016.