Mount Meru, Tanzania

Mount Meru is an active volcano located just 70 kilometers (44 miles) west
of Mount Kilimanjaro. It reaches 4,566 meters (14,978 feet) in height but
has lost much of its bulk due to an eastward volcanic blast sometime in
its distant past, perhaps similar to the eruption of Mount Saint Helens
in Washington State in 1980. Mount Meru most recently had a minor eruption
about a century ago. The several small cones and craters seen in the vicinity
probably reflect numerous episodes of volcanic activity. Mount Meru is the
topographic centerpiece of Arusha National Park. Its fertile slopes rise
above the surrounding savanna and support a forest that hosts diverse
wildlife, including nearly 400 species of birds, and also monkeys and leopards.

Two visualization methods were combined to produce this image: shading and
color coding of topographic height. The shade image was derived by computing
topographic slope in the north-south direction. Northern slopes appear bright
and southern slopes appear dark, as would be the case at noon at this latitude
in June. Color coding is directly related to topographic height, with green at
the lower elevations, rising through yellow, red, and magenta, to blue and
white at the highest elevations.

Elevation data used in this image was acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography
Mission (SRTM) aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on Feb. 11, 2000.