Multimedia Gallery

This is an animation showing the changing conditions of USGS streamgages from October 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. The river conditions shown range from the driest condition seen at a gage (red open circles) to the wettest (blue closed circles). A purple outer ring around a gage indicates it is flooding. As hurricane season came to a close, two final hurricanes made

Videos of the eruption and lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u on January 1, 2021.

• Clip 1: Halema‘uma‘u west vents and lava entering the lava lake at approximately 5:30 p.m. HST.
• Clip 2: Telephoto view of lava from Halema‘uma‘u west vents entering the lava lake at approximately 5 p.m. HST.
• Clip 3: The lava lake overflows onto a lower edge along the

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, provides an overview of activity at Yellowstone during December 2020.
 

A 2020 year in review of the many accomplishments of the US Geological Survey. A year that began with seismic activity in Southwest Puerto Rico, to the first-ever public testing of USGS ShakeAlerts, USGS scientists and technicians helped to track storm data during the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season. Mapping in high resolution the Nation's rivers and streams, to precise

Watch the changes in the growing lava lake within Halema'uma'u crater in these thermal maps from December 21-30, 2020.

In the first thermal map (December 21, 2020), the lake area is about 33 acres. In the last thermal map (December 30, 2020), the lake is about 82 acres. The dimensions of the lava lake are now 875 yd on the E-W axis (7+ football fields) and 580 yd on

This video, taken with a telephoto lens from an observation location on the rim, shows a process called “foundering”, in which a segment of cool lava crust on the surface of the lava lake is overridden by less-dense liquid from below causing the crust to sink into the underlying lake lava. Density-driven crustal foundering leading to surface renewal occurs repeatedly

Video from a helicopter overflight of Kīlauea summit eruption on December 30, 2020, around 10:00 a.m., shows the western vents (area of bluish-colored gas emissions on left) erupting through crusted-over channels into a lava lake within Halema'uma'u crater.

As of December 30, at 3:45 a.m., the lava lake was 181 m (593 ft) deep. The lake volume was about 23 million

Kīlauea Volcano, U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory timelapse of thermal imagery showing Halema‘uma‘u west vents and lava entering the lava lake. This timelapse was taken over one hour, between approximately 10 and 11 p.m on December 29, 2020.

29 December 2020 - Kīlauea Volcano - US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. This video, taken early morning on December 29, 2020, shows lava erupting from the west fissure in Halema‘uma‘u and pouring into the lava lake. Laser rangefinder measurements indicate that the opening lava pours from is 4-6 m (13-20 ft) wide. USGS video by H. Dietterich.

Social scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fort Collins Science Center – in collaboration with the USGS National Land Imaging Program – conduct Earth observation user case studies using qualitative research methods. Using standard scientific methods, they are better able to understand the variety of Earth observation users, including how they use and value

Social scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fort Collins Science Center – in collaboration with the USGS National Land Imaging Program – conduct Earth observation user case studies using qualitative research methods. Using standard scientific methods, they are better able to understand the variety of Earth observation users, including how they use and value

Lava flowing from the western fissure vent feeds multiple channels. This video was taken by Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's geology field team on December 28, 2020, from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. The team is located at an observation point on the rim of Halema‘uma‘u crater, and is using a telephoto lens to document fissure behavior. During the three-hour period, the field team

28 December 2020 - Kīlauea Volcano, US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory - A helicopter overflight this morning (9:30 a.m. HST) provided aerial views of the eruption in Halema‘uma‘u. This video shows the lava lake and active west vent. The spatter rampart built by the northern/eastern vent that is no longer erupting is visible on the crater wall. Visual and

27 December 2020 - Kīlauea Volcano US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory - Evening views of the eruption in Halema‘uma‘u. The west vent remained active overnight, with strombolian-like bursts and lava cascades. Lava cascading from the vent plunges into the lava lake in multiple places, causing local upwelling. As the cascades enter the lava lake, they cause the

A helicopter overflight on December 26, 2020, provided aerial views of the eruption in Halema‘uma‘u. This video, which is sped up 3 times, shows the lava lake and active west vent that rejuvenated just before 3 a.m. HST today. Visual and thermal imagery collected during the overflight are used to map the ongoing activity.

Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS) video clips of the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater at Kīlauea Volcano’s summit. This collection of video clips from December 25, 2020 taken with UAS shows the then-dominant north vent fountain and occasional weak spattering from the west vent. The lava lake during the time of the video was measured at approximately 178 m (584 ft) deep

This thermal timelapse (from F1cam webcam) shows the switch from water lake to lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, spanning December 20 to December 24. During the initial phase of lava appearing in the crater, a large steam plume is generated as lava interacts with and boils off the water lake. The temperature scale in this initial phase is saturated, but the camera settings were

23 December 2020 - Kīlauea Volcano US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Clip 1: A mid-day helicopter overflight provided aerial views of the eruption in Halema'uma'u crater. This video shows two active fissures erupting lava into a growing lava lake. Visual and thermal images collected during the overflight are used to map the ongoing activity. Clip 2: Three

Fissures Feed a Lava Lake at Halema'uma'u, at Kīlauea Volcano's Summit. Since fissures opened on December 20, 2020 in Halema'uma'u crater, USGS–Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists have maintained a 24-hour watch from the rim, taking measurements and making visual observations. This video captures fountaining activity at the two active vents during the early morning

Two fissure vents feed a growing lava lake at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u crater. A preliminary calculation of volume suggests that since the start of the eruption on December 20, 2020, approximately 8-10 million cubic meters of lava have been erupted. This is equivalent to over 2 billion gallons, the volume of 3,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

 Telephoto videos capture fissure activity within Halema‘uma‘u crater on December 22, 2020, at approximately 3:35 PM HST. (1) The first video shows the main northern fissure. The lava fountains have built up a horseshoe-shaped spatter cone (dark in color) around the perimeter of the vent. (2) 2) The second video shows the smaller western fissure. This fissure feeds a small

Lava Returns to Halema'uma'u, as captured in this timelapse from the K2cam, located at the HVO Observation Tower (Kīlauea Volcano). Timelapse is from December 20, 2020, 5:50 a.m. to December 21, 2020, 11:57 p.m. The K2cam is a research camera mounted in the observation tower at the previous Hawaiian Volcano Observatory building on the rim of Kīlauea caldera within Hawai'i

Lava returns to Halema'uma'u, at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. During a helicopter overflight on December 21, 2020, at approximately 11:30 AM HST, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists observed the northern fissure and lava cascade (right) supplying the majority of the lava into the lake, while the western (left) fissure was feeding several small channels that were