NASA satellite imagery reveals ongoing volcanic activity at Mount Michael on Saunders Island in the South Sandwich Islands. The stratovolcano hosts a persistent lava lake in its summit crater, a feature shared by only a handful of volcanoes globally. Analysis of data spanning 30 years confirms this ongoing activity.
A clear satellite image acquired on August 24, 2026, with the Operational Land Imager on the Landsat 8 satellite, revealed a puff of volcanic plume and darkened snow on the northern slopes of Mount Michael, indicating continued activity. The image is overlaid with an infrared signal (OLI bands 7-6-5) showing heat emanating from the lava lake within the volcano’s summit crater.
Saunders Island is part of the South Sandwich Islands, a volcanic chain formed by the subduction of the South American plate beneath the South Sandwich plate. Regular eruptions have occurred on these islands in recent centuries. Scientists rely on satellite data to monitor the remote volcanoes. Researchers analyzing Landsat, Sentinel, and ASTER observations concluded that Mount Michael hosts a persistent lava lake. Similar features are found at volcanoes including Kīlauea, Nyamulagira, and Erta Ale.
Long-term monitoring of Mount Michael has been enabled by thermal observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). Data from MIROVA, a near-real-time volcanic hot spot detection system, indicates low-intensity activity has been ongoing for several years. NASA’s Aura satellite has also detected common emissions of sulfur dioxide and other gases from the volcano. One week after the initial Landsat 8 image, Landsat 9 captured the island with a more active atmosphere, and wave clouds formed by the peak disturbing passing winds.
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