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Volcanic ash cloud-top height (ACTH) can be monitored on the global level using satellite remote sensing. Here we propose a photogrammetric method based on the parallax between data retrieved from geostationary and polar orbiting satellites to overcome some limitations of the existing methods of ACTH retrieval. SEVIRI HRV band and MODIS band 1 are a good choice because of their high resolution. The procedure works well if the data from both satellites are retrieved nearly simultaneously. MODIS does not retrieve the data at exactly the same time as SEVIRI. To compensate for advection we use two sequential SEVIRI images (one before and one after the MODIS retrieval) and interpolate the cloud position from SEVIRI data to the time of MODIS retrieval. The proposed method was tested for the case of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in April 2010. The parallax between MODIS and SEVIRI data can reach 30 km, which implies an ACTH of approximately 12 km at the beginning of the eruption. At the end of April eruption an ACTH of 3–4 km is observed. The accuracy of ACTH was estimated to be 0.6 km.

Iron is a key limiting micro-nutrient for marine primary productivity. It can be supplied to the ocean by atmospheric dust deposition. Volcanic ash deposition into the ocean represents another external and so far largely neglected source of iron. This study demonstrates strong evidence for natural fertilisation in the iron-limited oceanic area of the NE Pacific, induced by volcanic ash from the eruption of Kasatochi volcano in August 2008. Atmospheric and oceanic conditions were favourable to generate a massive phytoplankton bloom in the NE Pacific Ocean which for the first time establishes a causal connection between oceanic iron-fertilisation and volcanic ash supply.