Images

A wide view from the summit, looking east. Halema‘uma‘u Crater occupies the foreground, with the lava lake in the Overlook crater. At the skyline, Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō can be seen. The June 27th lava flow is fed from a vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, with lava traveling through a lava tube to the flow front.

This comparison of a photograph with a corresponding thermal image shows a typical lobe of pāhoehoe on the June 27th lava flow. The highest surface temperatures in this image are just under 900 Celsius (1650 F), but if one measured the temperature of the lava beneath the thin crust it would be close to 1140 Celsius (2080 F).

This map uses satellite imagery acquired in March 2014 (provided by Digital Globe) as a base image to show the area around the front of the June 27th lava flow. The flow front closest to the transfer station was inactive, but small, sluggish breakouts were scattered across the surface of the flow upslope from the stalled front.

This satellite image was captured by the Advanced Land Imager instrument onboard NASA's Earth Observing 1 satellite. Although this is a false-color image, the color map has been chosen to mimic what the human eye would expect to see. Bright red pixels depict areas of very high temperatures, and show active lava. White areas are clouds.

The June 27th flow remains active and heading northeast, moving through Kaohe Homesteads. For several weeks the flow has been moving through thick forest, and today the flow front reached the forest boundary and more open ground. Nevertheless, active portions of the flow remain in the forest and fires continue.

View of the flow front, looking north. Pāhoa is located in the upper right portion of the photograph. The flow front today was 3.4 km (2.1 miles) from Pāhoa Village Road.

A close-up view of the surface of the June 27th lava flow, near the flow front. The pāhoehoe flow is too thin and slow to topple trees as it passes, but instead the lava surrounds the trees and burns through the base. When the trees fall over, the flow surface may have cooled enough that the trunks remain intact.

This map uses satellite imagery acquired in March 2014 as a base image to show the area around the front of the June 27th lava flow. The blue line and arrowheads show the projected path of the flow over the next two weeks (to October 3), based on the average flow rate over the last two days and the local topography.

This large-scale map shows the distal part of the June 27th flow in relation to nearby Puna communities. The black dots mark the flow front on specific dates. The latitude and longitude of the flow front on September 19 was 19.47593/-154.975505 (Decimal degrees; WGS84).

This small-scale map shows the June 27th flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone in relation to lower Puna. The area of the flow on September 17, 2014, at 3:45 PM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on September 19 at 11:45 AM is shown in red.

Another view of the narrow flow front. Kaohe Homesteads is in the lower left portion of the image. The vent for the June 27th lava flow is on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, which can be seen on the skyline.

Views of the flow front from two different angles, with equivalent thermal images for comparison. The thermal images show that surface breakouts were focused on three areas near the flow front: 1) the flow front itself, 2) an area 300 meters (yards) behind the flow front and 3) a larger area about 1 km (0.6 miles) behind the flow front.

Preview image for video: gives a quick aerial overview of the activity at the front of the June 27th lava flow. Kaohe Homesteads is in the lower left.

This small-scale map shows the June 27th flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone in relation to lower Puna. The area of the flow on September 15, 2014, at 2:00 PM is shown in pink, while advancement of the flow as mapped on September 17 at 3:45 PM is shown in red.

A view of the leading tip of the flow, which was moving through thick forest.

Lava from June 27 Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō breakout flowing through vacant, forested parcel in Kahoe Homesteads (left side of image). Smoke from trees burning as they come in contact with lava. Kīlauea, Hawai‘i

A close-up view of the flow surface near the flow front, which consisted of numerous, scattered small pāhoehoe lobes.

Another view of the flow front in the northwest portion of Kaohe Homesteads. The leading portion of the flow front narrowed over the past two days and was roughly 150 m (500 ft) wide.

Preview image for video: provides a brief aerial overview of activity at the flow front. Kaohe Homesteads is in the lower left.

A closer look at the lava lake at Kīlauea's summit. The lake was roughly 53 m (170 ft) below the floor of Halema‘uma‘u Crater this morning.

This large-scale map shows the distal part of the June 27th flow in relation to nearby Puna communities. The black dots mark the flow front on specific dates. The latitude and longitude of the flow front on September 17 was 19.4737016 /-154.977834 (Decimal degrees; WGS84).