Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

December 28, 2020—Kīlauea summit eruption thermal map

December 29, 2020

 

Color thermal map of lava lake
A helicopter overflight yesterday (Dec. 28, 2020) at approximately 10:30 AM HST allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of the new eruption within Halema'uma'u crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. This preliminary thermal map shows that the lake area has not changed significantly since the thermal map that was made on December 26. The dimensions of the active part of the new lava lake, not including the outer edge that appears cool (blue) in the thermal image, are 770 m (842 yd) E-W axis and 490 m (536 yd) in N-S axis. The most recent estimate of lake area is about 29 hectares (72 acres). The scale of the thermal map ranges from blue to red, with blue colors indicative of cooler temperatures and red colors indicative of warmer temperatures. USGS map by M. Patrick.
Title December 28, 2020—Kīlauea summit eruption thermal map
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse