Overflight of Kīlauea summit on December 18

On December 18, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists conducted an overflight of Kīlauea's summit. In this view, looking southwest, large cracks are visible on Kīlauea's caldera floor above and adjacent to the portion of Kīlauea's caldera floor that down-dropped during the summit collapse-events of 2018. During the flight, the Kīlauea summit area was filmed with both thermal and visual cameras. When compared to previously collected imagery, the images collected on December 18 will provide information on changes at Kīlauea's summit. USGS photo by K. Mulliken.