April 18, 2024 — Drying out at Kīlauea summit

Heavy rains in recent weeks resulted in water accumulating in the case of the KWcam, a webcam monitoring the summit of Kīlauea. HVO staff visited the site on April 18 to replace desiccant and dry out the enclosure. Access KWcam imagery and an animated GIF of the past 24-hours at [KWcam] Live Panorama of Halemaʻumaʻu from the west rim of Kīlauea summit caldera, looking east | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov).

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New USGS Data Release for fissure 8 lava fountain heights during the 2018 eruption

DeSmither, L., and Patrick, M., 2024, Lava fountain heights and associated timelapse images during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9DSIP05.

Access the Data Release here: Lava fountain heights and associated timelapse images during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi - ScienceBase-Catalog

The 2018 eruption from the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano, on the Island of Hawaiʻi, was one of the most significant and destructive events on the volcano in the past 200 years. Between May and September of that year, 24 fissures opened on the lower flank of the volcano, producing lava fountains and expansive lava flows that covered an area of 36 km². Effusion rates at the dominant vent, fissure 8, were often >100 m³ s^-1, and the total eruptive volume is estimated at 0.9–1.4 km³making it one of the most voluminous effusive eruptions worldwide in the past hundred years. Over 700 structures were destroyed, and thousands of residents were displaced. In this data release we publish measurements of the height of the 2018 lava fountains through time, which may be helpful for understanding the dynamics of lava fountaining and vent behavior in basaltic eruptions. In this first version of the data release, we include only the measurements from the dominant vent, fissure 8. This fountain was monitored with a time-lapse camera that allowed for frequent, regular measurements. Lava fountains at the other fissures were measured more sporadically, normally with a handheld inclinometer, and those data will be included in a later version.