Videos

Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist emeritus Don Swanson on a virtual walk, during which you learn about the past 500 years of Kīlauea Volcano’s history as revealed by rocks, craters, and cracks.

Yellowstone Volcano Observatory Scientist-in-Charge Mike Poland visits Yellowstone National Park to tell the story of how the ground there moves up and down over time. This motion has been measured using a variety of techniques over the past 100 years, and from geological mapping scientists can even tell how the ground has moved going back about 15,000 years!

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

 

A helicopter overflight on September 23, 2020, provided airborne views of the water lake at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. Visual and thermal images collected during the overflight are used for mapping the slowly enlarging lake. A segment of the video shows the remains of Crater Rim Drive, a portion of which collapsed during the 2018 summit activity.

This video, taken on September 23, 2020, shows a small area of bubbling or upwelling along the western shoreline of the water lake at the summit of Kīlauea. This feature may result from a submerged fumarole (gas vent) on the crater wall. The extent of this feature is limited and it does not seem to have a significant effect on the overall lake surface activity.

This video shows a close-up of the northern shoreline of the water lake at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. Steaming and subtle ripples are present on the water surface. Zooming out gives a sense of the scale of the lake. The lake level is approximately 576 meters (1890 ft) below the camera. USGS video by M. Patrick.

The color zones on the lake surface shift from minute to minute. This video shows how the color zones were creating a large swirl in the lake center. USGS video by M. Patrick.

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

 

This timelapse video shows approximately 45 minutes of activity in the water lake at the summit of Kīlauea volcano. The video shows that the color zones are highly dynamic, shifting from minute to minute. This behavior has been common in the lake during much of the past year. Note that the camera exposure changes several times, shifting the color slightly at times.

This time-lapse movie, which spans January 2019 to August 2020, shows the changing nature of the seasons at Yellowstone Lake as captured by the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory webcam. Snow and ice come and go, and there is even a wildfire visible during the summer of 2019!
 

Infrasound is an important tools for volcanologists, allowing them to detect eruptions, locate the source of explosions, and understand important parameters of volcanic events. John Lyons discusses how the technique is used by the USGS, especially in Alaska, and how we are working to help study infrasound around the world.
 

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

 

This timelapse video at Kīlauea's summit covers approximately 30 minutes and shows the dynamic nature of the water lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater. Steam from the hot water surface is constantly shifting in the winds, while the migrating color boundaries on the water surface appear to show circulation in the lake. USGS video by M. Patrick.

The video describes work by Jay Wellik, a USGS seismologist and his colleagues with the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP). They assisted Indonesia's CVGHM in responding to the 2017 activity/eruption at Mt. Agung, on the island of Bali.

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

 

This thermal video shows typical activity at Kīlauea's summit water lake. Steam carried across the water surface often masks thermal features on the underlying water surface. USGS video by M. Patrick.

This video describes USGS use of Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS) or "drones" for use in 2018 at Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii. The speaker, Angie Diefenbach, is a leading expert in use of UAS for volcano surveillance and research. The presentation was given in June 2020 to colleagues in Ecuador who are interested in applications of UAS at their volcanoes.

The video describes USGS efforts to improve lahar (mudflow) monitoring at Mount Rainier, an ice-clad volcano in Washington State with potential for dangerous volcanic mudflows. The presentation was given to colleagues in the US and in Ecuador by Andy Lockhart.

A helicopter overflight provided aerial photographs of Kīlauea caldera on May 29, and these photos were used to construct a 3D model. The water lake is visible as the tan area in the deepest portion of Halema‘uma‘u crater. For scale, the water lake is 270 m (885 ft) long and approximately 600 m (1970 ft) below the western caldera rim. USGS photos by K. Mulliken.

This wide-angle video was captured during a helicopter overflight on May 29, and skirts the southern border of Halema‘uma‘u crater. The water lake, filling the bottom of the crater, was tan and brown today, and showed no significant changes. USGS video by M. Patrick.

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