Multimedia Gallery

The remote ice fields of southern Chile have seen some dramatic change over the past three decades; change made clear by Landsat's deep archive of imagery. In 1987, the terminus of Erasmo Glacier was at the end of a low sloping valley. By 2015 it had retreated almost 3 kilometers, and formed a water body referred to as a proglacial lake. The end of the glacier now lies

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, debunks the misconception that if Yellowstone were to erupt, it would be Armageddon. In fact, the most common form of eruptive activity at Yellowstone is a lava flow, and even those aren't that common. They happen only once every few tens of thousands of years. Learn more in this monthly overview of

What stories do rocks tell? What techniques do scientists use to study volcanoes? Dr. Heather Wright talks about the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, provides an overview of volcanoes and how they erupt, and shows why scientists continue to monitor this active volcano, in this presentation to the Sno-Isle Libraries’ 2021 Whidbey Reads program.
 

Agenda:

• 00:05 Accessing 3DEP Lidar and DEMs: Presenters - Rob Dollison & Jason Stoker
• 16:21 WBD Improvements for White Mountains National Forest, New Hampshire: Presenter- Brittany Gold: USGS Utah Water Science Center

Links:

• USGS National

What do USGS Hydrologic Technicians do on the job? This video features two Hydrologic Technicians from the South Atlantic Water Science Center sharing how they inspect streamgages, which is an integral part of a Hydrologic Technician's work. This video was sponsored by the USGS Hydrologic Data Advisory Committee.
 

This video shows a close-up of the small inlet where lava enters the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. The inlet consists of a small upwelling zone, with lava rapidly developing a thin flexible crust as it moves away from the source.

On February 11, 2021, no major changes were observed at the lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. The inlet site where lava is entering the lake had a small upwelling zone raised slightly above the surrounding lake surface. 

An overflight today provided aerial views of Kīlauea's ongoing summit eruption. No major changes were observed at the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater. Active surface lava is still largely limited to the western portion of the lake. Snow on Mauna Kea can be seen in the distance.
 

Welcome to the "The I Am A..." series. This is the fifth video in a series of USGS whiteboard animations that highlight USGS careers. The concept is to show "what society (or my mom) thinks I do" compared with "what I really do." One image captures a more whimsical representation of a "scientist" and the second demonstrates a more accurate representation of what we really

This video clip from February 4, 2021, shows the erupting west vent and the growing lava lake within Halema'uma'u. The start of this video focuses on the active western portion of the lava lake, which measured approximately 212 m (696 ft) deep at this time. A plume of volcanic gas is seen rising continuously from the west vent. USGS has special use permits from the

Presenter: Ethan Shavers, USGS National Geospatial Program Center for Excellence in GIS (CEGIS)

Topic: Automating Validation and Update of the NHD

Researchers with the Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS) are developing and testing methods for automated validation and update of the NHD using 3DEP data. An overview of this research

Eruptive activity continues at the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. This video was taken on February 1 from the morning helicopter overflight. The western fissure supplies lava to the lake at an inlet site along the west lake margin. Activity has been stable in recent days with no major changes.
 

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, gives an overview of activity at Yellowstone Volcano during January 2021.
 

Eruptive activity continues within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. The western fissure continues to supply lava into the lava lake, with active surface lava largely confined to the western portion of the lake.
 

The visible impact of climate change on the Earth’s surface is often clearest in the Arctic’s receding glaciers and swelling glacial lakes. Southeastern Alaska’s Harlequin Lake is one of the fastest-growing in North America. These false color Landsat images show the rapidly-retreating Yakutat Glacier, which feeds the lake. Landsat can be used to illustrate the lake’s

Alaska's coastal and offshore waters provide foraging habitat for an estimated 100 million birds comprising more than 90 different species. Researchers at the USGS Alaska Science Center work in collaboration with many partner agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities and rehabilitation centers to investigate seabirds. USGS ecosystems research is focused on

The surface temperature of the land changes rapidly across the world throughout the course of one year. This video shows the changing temperatures throughout 2020 using 8-day land surface temperature (LST) data from the Terra MODIS satellite sensor. For more information on the data used to make this video please visit the LP DAAC website:

Because Mauna Loa has been quiet for almost 30 years, residents may not be aware that Mauna Loa is an active volcano. When Mauna Loa erupts, it is capable of disrupting lives and commerce throughout the Island of Hawai‘i. What can we learn from Mauna Loa’s past eruptions? What are the signs we need to look for in the future that might portend the next eruption of the world

Gearing up for Landing Day - An Interview with USGS Scientist and Mars Rover Team Member, Dr. Ryan Anderson

USGS Astrogeology has been involved in the Perseverance Mission from selecting the landing site and generating a map of the area that is on board the rover to rover operations once Perseverance lands on the red planet. Learn more about Astrogeology's

Cyclic fluctuations in eruptive vigor were present recently at the western fissure in Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. The cycles occurred on January 22 and 23, with cycles lasting 5-6 minutes. Peaks in the cycles were expressed as high flow rates in the channel and spattering at the vents. During troughs in the cycles, the channel became nearly inactive. These

Flames have been observed numerous times at the western fissure in Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. The combusting gas is not certain, but flames were observed numerous times in Halema‘uma‘u during the early 1900s lava lake.

On December 20, 2020, an eruption began in Halema‘uma‘u at Kīlauea Volcano’s summit, ending a two-year eruptive pause. The water lake that appeared at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u in late July 2019, which had grown to be over 50 meters (55 yards) deep and more than 10 acres in surface area, quickly vaporized and was replaced by a growing lava lake. The eruption began as

On December 26th, 2004, a massive 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The third largest earthquake ever recorded lifted the sea floor several meters, causing tsunami waves to ripple out in all directions and race across the ocean. Banda Aceh bore the brunt of the waves just 15 to 20 minutes after the earthquake. Waves in some