A thermal camera captures the rise of an ash cloud at Sakurajima, Japan, on June 7, 2015. Watch the vulcanian burst develop into a cooling toroidal vortex that is sucked back into the center of the hot, rising core as ballistics the size of refrigerators shower the flanks. USGS-CVO joined researchers from the University of South Florida, New Mexico Tech, LMU Munich and the Sakurajima Volcano Observatory, in studying volcanic ash clouds and the origin of volcanic lightning. Researchers set up equ