PHOTO CAPTION                                      April 13, 1994

This image from the X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR) was
obtained on the first day of the Space Radar Laboratory-1 (SRL-1)
mission, and shows the central part of the Kamchatka Peninsula in
Eastern Russia.  The prominent mountain to the right side of the
image is the 1,486-meter-high (4,875-foot) Karymsky volcano
located at 54.07 degrees north latitude, 159.60 degress east
longitude.  This volcano last erupted over an extended period of
time that started in 1970 and continued until late 1982.  During
this decade of activity, there were several quite large explosive
eruptions that produced pyroclastic flows, mud flows and lava
flows.  Other, more heavily eroded volcanoes can also be seen.
The Kamchatka Peninsula has many active volcanoes, including the
2,800-meter-high (9,186-foot) Bezimianny which erupted late last
year.  Other spectacular eruptions also took place from Plosky 
Tolbachik, which was the site of a major fissure eruption in
1976.  These volcanoes are particularly important to scientists
from the perspective of the environmental focus of the Mission to
Planet Earth as well as because of their role as natural hazards.
Because they are so high, and are located at a high latitude, 
the summits of some of these volcanoes actually extend into the
stratosphere -- a part of the atmosphere where volcanic aerosols
and ash can remain suspended for weeks or months, thus affecting
regional weather patterns and short-term climate.  In addition,
many of the 65 active volcanoes in this area erupt explosively,
producing ash plumes from Kamchatka that drift into the airways 
used by aircraft traveling from Alaska to Japan.  Monitoring
these volcanoes with orbital radar and other satellites is an
effective way to observe these natural hazards.  This image was
obtained on orbit 10 of the SRL-1 mission (data take 10.1) at an
incidence angle of 38.63 degrees.  The width of the image is 24
kilometers (15 miles).

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