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Crisis remote sensing during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea Volcano

December 30, 2018

Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, is renowned as one of the most active and closely monitored volcanoes on Earth. Scores of seismometers and deformation sensors form an array across the volcano to detect subsurface magmatic activity, and ground observers track eruptions on the surface. In addition to this dense ground-based monitoring, remote sensing – both airborne and spaceborne – has become a backbone tool at the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) for mapping activity and forecasting volcanic hazards. Remote observations were critical components of HVO’s response to the historically unprecedented 2018 eruption from Kīlauea’s lower East Rift Zone (ERZ); here we describe some of the many types of remote sensing tools that were utilized, and the specific monitoring roles they filled.

Publication Year 2018
Title Crisis remote sensing during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea Volcano
DOI 10.14358/PERS.84.12.749
Authors Michael H. Zoeller, Matthew R. Patrick, Christina A. Neal
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing
Index ID 70211536
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Volcano Science Center