Images

Around 2:20 p.m., HST, on August 3, lava broke out from a vent (center) low on the west flank of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone. Lava erupting from the flank vent is entirely within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, and pose no hazard to residents.

This view, looking east, shows the broad area of ponded lava fed by two main channels originating from several individual vents. The fume-filled crater of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is in the background. The darker lava in the foreground, at the bottom of the image, is from the March 2011 Kamoamoa eruption.

One of the more vigorous vents, in the lower left, is topped by a tall (6 m, or 20 ft, high) spatter cone. The flow from this vent cascades down several steps, joining the flow from two other nearby vents, before flowing under a small bridge and into the broad area of ponded lava to the west.

The new lava lake in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō has buried much of the floor of the August 3, 2011, collapse crater beneath a maximum of about 45 m (~148 ft) of lava. Most of the lava upwells at the east end of the lake (lower right) and flows toward the west, much like the lava lake prior to the August 3 flank breakout and crater collapse.

USGS scientists assembling a novel profiling arm to measure suspended sediment in the benthic boundary layer. This large seafloor platform was later deployed for several months off Martha's Vineyard, MA as part of the Optics Acoustics and Stress In Situ (OASIS) Project in 2011.

The image is from the Martian southern polar region. CO2 ice shown here is about 10 feet thick, and the semi-circular depressions are about 200 ft across. 

"The great inflated cylinder of black glass which formed over the sunken island, Aug. 18, 1911" (Frank Perret).

U.S. Geological Survey geographer Nadine Golden (center, kneeling) works with USGS marine operations staffer Cordell Johnson (right) and a deckhand (left) to deploy a camera sled from the research vessel Coral Sea. The sled is towed close to the seafloor and collects real-time photographs and videos.

Oblique aerial photograph near Rodanthe, North Carolina, looking south along the coast on August 30, 2011, three days after landfall of Hurricane Irene. 

Deploying the airgun array from CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent. USCGC Healy can be seen in the background.

CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent following the path created by USCGC Healy

During hurricanes the USGS deploys storm-surge monitoring instruments along the coasts, sounds, and bays in impacted areas to gauge how high hurricanes push water in rivers, bays and other areas. The sensors are crucial for forecasting future storms and assessing hurricane damage.

During hurricanes the USGS deploys storm-surge monitoring instruments along the coasts, sounds, and bays in impacted areas to gauge how high hurricanes push water in rivers, bays and other areas. The sensors are crucial for forecasting future storms and assessing hurricane damage.

During hurricanes the USGS deploys storm-surge monitoring instruments along the coasts, sounds, and bays in impacted areas to gauge how high hurricanes push water in rivers, bays and other areas. The sensors are crucial for forecasting future storms and assessing hurricane damage.

During hurricanes the USGS deploys storm-surge monitoring instruments along the coasts, sounds, and bays in impacted areas to gauge how high hurricanes push water in rivers, bays and other areas. The sensors are crucial for forecasting future storms and assessing hurricane damage.

John Erbland, Hydrologic Technician with the USGS South Carolina Water Science Center, holds a white board with information on the Hurricane Irene storm surge sensor deployment on a pier by the U.S. Coast Guard Station in the town of Wrightsville Beach.

Extensive, contiguous mortality of piñon pine, ponderosa pine, and Douglas-fir trees, killed in the first afternoon and evening of the 2011 Las Conchas Fire in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. Forest drought stress is highly correlated with mortality from poor growth, bark beetle outbreaks, and high-severity fire.

Electronics inside the instrument shelter, which includes a high-data-rate transmitter (upper right) and line-of-sight receiver (middle left). The line-of-sight receiver picks up transmissions from the remote rain gage at the look-out area at the top of the Montezuma Pass, Arizona.

Flood-alert instrument tower with electronics shelter and precipitation gage at top of tower.

Stream channel cross-section measurements—instrument that uses laser pulses to survey distance to a reflector operated by a second crew member, Mount St. Helens.

Global Positioning System receiver (called a GPS monument) at North Rim Station, a monitoring location at Newberry volcano, Oregon.