New Kīlauea and Mauna Loa USGS Data Releases

By Hawaiian Volcano Observatory March 20, 2026

The USGS has recently published several Data Release products associated with eruptions of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa. If you have questions about these data sets, please contact askHVO@usgs.gov.

Rock sample geochemistry

Sample details and compositional data collected during episodes 1–39 (2024-2025) of the 2024-ongoing episodic Halema‘uma‘u eruption of Kīlauea, Island of Hawaiʻi

Samples for episodes 1–39 (2024-2025) of the 2024-ongoing episodic Halema‘uma‘u Kīlauea eruption were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) field teams from within publicly closed areas of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park in cooperation with the National Park Service. This data release presents sample metadata, whole rock ED-XRF, whole rock WD-XRF, whole rock LA-ICP-MS, and glass EPMA data for these samples.

Sample details and near-real-time ED-XRF data collected during the 2020-2023 Halema‘uma‘u eruptions of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi

A limited suite of samples for the 2020–2023 Kīlauea eruptions within Kaluapele (the summit caldera) were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) field teams from within a publicly closed area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park in cooperation with the National Park Service. This data release presents sample metadata, whole rock ED-XRF, whole rock WD-XRF, whole rock LA-ICP-MS, glass EPMA, glass LA-ICP-MS, leachate, and isotope data for these samples.

Glass electron microprobe analyses for April and May 2018 Halema‘uma‘u lava lake tephra, Kīlauea, Island of Hawai‘i

Glass electron microprobe analyses for tephra samples from April and May 2018 during the 2008-2018 Halema‘uma‘u eruption of Kīlauea, Island of Hawai‘i. Purpose is to characterize the glass compositions of the end of the eruption period prior to the 2018 summit collapse.

Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) data from pyroxene, plagioclase, and olivine from the Kamakaiʻa Hills flow field, Southwest Rift Zone, Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, USA

This dataset includes major-, minor-, and trace-element analyses by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and trace-element analyses by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of olivine, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and orthopyroxene minerals from scoria and lava samples from the Kamakaiʻa Hills of the Southwest Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, USA. Chemical analyses by EPMA were performed at the U.S. Geological Survey in Moffett Field, California, and LA-ICP-MS chemical analyses were performed at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington.

Volcanic Gas

Traverse-based sulfur dioxide emission rates from Hawaiian volcanoes, 2023–2025

Here we present a continuation of a long-term dataset collected by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory for over four decades using UV spectrometers in below-plume traverses. Traverse-based emission rate measurements included herein were compiled between 2023 and 2025 and span six eruptions at Kīlauea, as well as the quiescent periods between eruptions. No SO₂ emission rate measurements were made at other Hawaiian volcanoes (e.g., Mauna Loa) during the timeframe of this data release; only Kīlauea was emitting SO₂ in quantities measurable by UV spectrometer.

Mauna Loa 2022

Imagery of the Mauna Loa 2022 eruption acquired with uncrewed aircraft systems

Mauna Loa 2022 lava flow thickness maps

Mauna Loa volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, erupted from November 27 to December 10, 2022, sending lava flows across the summit caldera (Mokuʻāweoweo) and into the upper Southwest Rift Zone, before focusing in the Northeast Rift Zone at fissure 3, sending a lava flow down the north flank that threatened a major highway. During the eruption, there was a need for updated terrain data to update syn-eruptive lava flow routing and runout forecasts, as well as to track emplaced lava thickness and volume. Following a successful deployment during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration supported rapid deployment of the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) airborne GLISTIN-A instrument for three days of syn-eruptive acquisitions to measure topographic change using single-pass InSAR (December 7, 8, and 10, 2022). Digital elevation models (DEMs) from each flight line are available from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology. This data release provides mosaicked DEMs and lava flow thickness maps for three days of the eruption that were used to measure eruptive volume and time-averaged discharge rates.

Kīlauea 2018

Image and video catalog of the 2018 summit collapse and lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, Hawaii

This data release contains an image and video catalog of the 2018 summit collapse and lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, on the Island of Hawaiʻi. An intrusion of magma into Kīlauea’s lower East Rift Zone resulted in a four-month-long eruption from May 3 to September 5, 2018. The eruption produced lava flows that covered an area of 35.5 square kilometers with lava and destroyed 723 structures. As the eruption progressed, the summit lava lake drained and magma withdrew from the shallow summit reservoir, resulting in incremental caldera collapse from May to early August 2018. Each of the 62 summit collapse events released energy equivalent to a magnitude-5.3 earthquake. The total summit collapse volume was about 0.8 cubic kilometers, with subsidence of more than 500 meters in some places.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff, associates, and visitors monitored these events and their associated hazards, documenting them through digital images and videos. This data release contains a sub-sample of the multimedia collected, and it includes 10,334 photographs and 428 videos recorded between May 1, 2018, and September 7, 2018.

Full references (alphabetical order by author last name):

Dietterich, H.R., Zoeller, M.H., and Lundgren, P., 2026, Mauna Loa 2022 lava flow digital elevation models and thickness maps: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P1NBKNMC.

Dietterich, H.R., Zoeller, M.H., and Parcheta, C., 2026, Imagery of the Mauna Loa 2022 eruption acquired with uncrewed aircraft systems: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P1QRAS3G.

Downs, D.T., and Sas, M., 2026, Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) data from pyroxene, plagioclase, and olivine from the Kamakaiʻa Hills flow field, Southwest Rift Zone, Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, USA: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P1CW2KCM.

Lynn, K. J., Downs, D. T., 2026. Glass electron microprobe analyses for April and May 2018 Halema‘uma‘u lava lake tephra, Kīlauea, Island of Hawai‘i, Version 1.0. Interdisciplinary Earth Data Alliance (IEDA). https://doi.org/10.60520/IEDA/114174. Accessed 2026-03-20.

Lynn, K.J., Downs, D.T., Chang, J.M., Lundblad, S.P., Mills, P.R., McDade, B., Deligne, N.I., Gansecki, C.A., Schmith, J., Decker, M.F.I., Zoeller, M.H., Trusdell, F.A., Carr, B.B., Patrick, M.R., Parcheta, C., Nalesnik, A., Dietterich, H., Hazlett, R., Johnson, P.A., Gallant, E., Mulliken, K.M., Nadeau, P.A., Cappos, M.J., DeSmither, L., Peek, S., Damby, D., Dotray, P.J., van Helden, K.M., Shea, T., Hammer, J.E., Mourey, A.J., and Loewen, M., 2024, Sample details and near-real-time ED-XRF data collected during the 2020-2023 Halema‘uma‘u eruptions of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P1XFKKYH.

Lynn, K.J., Downs, D.T., Decker, M.F.I., Ruth, D.C.S., Forster, L., Poepoe, K.K., Lundblad, S.P., Winslow, H., DeSmither, L., Barnett, J., Deligne, N.I., Zoeller, M.H., Patrick, M.R., Gallant, E., Sealing, C., Mulliken, K.M., Dotray, P.J., Ellis, A.P., Chiaro, G., Robbins, M., Johnson, E.R., Lerner, A., Lopez, B., Bennington, N., Nadeau, P.A., Phillips, D.A., Neuman, H., Gansecki, C., Haleamau Rubio, K., Johanson, I., Warren, S.M., Cappos, M., Adams, R.G., Wall, K., Thomas, N., Benage, M., Wright, H., Dechert, A.E., Gauer Pasqualon, N., Flinders, A., Bagnardi, M., Weiss-Racine, H., Corsa, B., Hayes, Q., Kohagura, N., Cauley, C., and Bustos, A., 2026, Sample details and compositional data collected during episodes 1–39 (2024-2025) of the 2024-ongoing episodic Halema‘uma‘u eruption of Kīlauea, Island of Hawaiʻi: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P1GFWGX9.

Mulliken, K.M., and Gaddis, B., 2026, Image and video catalog of the 2018 summit collapse and lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, Hawaii: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9LALQ40.

Nadeau, P.A., Sealing, C.R., Cappos, M.J., Kern, C, Lopez, B., and Calleja, H., 2026, Traverse-based sulfur dioxide emission rates from Hawaiian volcanoes, 2023–2025: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P1N2DWRY.