A helicopter overflight on May 23, 2023, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. No active lava was present in the crater, with only scattered warm spots on the crater floor. 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. 

A helicopter overflight on May 23, 2023, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. No active lava was present in the crater, with only scattered warm spots on the crater floor. 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. 

Another aerial view of the Vibroseis truck near Maunaulu in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. The truck is generating seismic signals that will help to provide a new detailed view of shallow subsurface structures and the magma system beneath Kīlauea volcano’s summit. This will be the first scientific study with the potential to produce a detailed image of how magma is stored and moves beneath the summit. More information about the project is available here: https://www.usgs.gov/supplemental-appropriations-for-disaster-recovery-activities/science/2019-kilauea-disaster-2. Pauahi crater is visible in the background of the image. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

The Vibroseis vehicle has been operating on roads in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and in the Kīlauea summit region for the past several weeks. The vehicle belongs to the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) experimental facility at the University of Texas at Austin, which is supported with funding from the National Science Foundation. This aerial view shows the truck in the Maunaulu parking lot. You can learn more about the Kīlauea Seismic Imaging Project here: https://www.usgs.gov/supplemental-appropriations-for-disaster-recovery-activities/science/2019-kilauea-disaster-2. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

This aerial view, looking east across Halema‘uma‘u crater floor, shows the complex features formed during recent Kīlauea summit eruptions. The basin of the lava lake from the September 2021-December 2022 eruption is visibly steaming near the base of the photo, the island that formed during the December 2020-May 2021 eruption is brown-colored and visible in the center of the photo, and the basin that formed during the most recent January-March 2023 eruption is the complex basin-feature visible near the top of the image. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

HVO scientists observed no changes to Kīlauea summit during a routine monitoring overflight the morning of May 23, 2023. Mauna Loa is visible in the background of the image. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

Another GPS survey benchmark being occupied on Mauna Loa. The metal disk on the ground beneath the tripod is the benchmark, which is cemented to the lava flow surface. Each year, the high-precision GPS unit is centered on the benchmark, and the height of the GPS unit on the tripod is accounted for when calculating how much that spot has moved vertically and horizontally over the past year. Mauna Kea is visible in the background. USGS photo by A. Ellis.

During the annual Mauna Loa GPS campaign, scientists temporarily deploy a number of GPS instruments at established benchmarks; their recorded positions can be compared with those from previous years to discern subtle patterns of ground deformation associated with volcanic activity. These data augment the permanent, continuously recording GPS instruments in HVO's monitoring network. In this photo, a survey tripod is established over a benchmark near the summit of Mauna Loa; Moku‘āweoweo caldera is visible in the background on the image. USGS image by A. Ellis.