Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Last year at Kīlauea Volcano, water appeared within the summit caldera where a lava lake had been for the previous decade. This piece covers the reliance on Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS) for sampling the lake water, the growth and significance of the new water lake, and implications for future eruptive activity at Kīlauea's summit. 

Views of Kīlauea's growing summit water lake; Sulfur Banks and Steam Vents; gravity survey at Kīlauea summit

You may have seen the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory’s “Caldera Chronicles” article about their new-and-improved website, in which they hint at a change coming to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s (HVO) website, too. It’s...

Vibrant color variations at Kīlauea's summit water lake

Over the past two decades, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) has set up a camera network system to monitor visual changes at Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes. This network was designed for the volcanic activity of the time and captured the two long-lived eruptions of Kīlauea at the summit and East Rift Zone up close.

Continued slow rise of water in Halema‘uma‘u

September 3, 2020 — Kīlauea

Kīlauea's 2018 summit collapse dramatically transformed the geometry and appearance of Halema‘uma‘u crater and Kīlauea caldera. Last week's "Volcano Watch" article described how the 2018 events impacted the magma plumbing system beneath the surface of Kīlauea's summit. This week, we'll explore how the...

The USGS has recently published a "Campaign GPS measurements on the Island of Hawai‘i collected by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in 2019." This data release includes all 2019 campaign survey GPS sites on Kīlauea and Mauna Loa on the Island of Hawai‘i; it also includes semi-permanent stations in Kīlauea's Middle...

The USGS has recently published a data release that completes the 1979–2018 sulfur dioxide emission rate record for Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii. Kīlauea Volcano on the Island of Hawai‘i, has one of the longest running volcanic sulfur dioxide gas (SO₂) emission rate records in the world.

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