Lopaka is a computer scientist working for the USGS, Science Analytics and Synthesis, Advanced Research Computing team.
Employment
- U.S. Geological Survey – Advanced Research Computing: Geophysicist (SWAP/TDY, 2021)
- U.S. Geological Survey – Hawaiian Volcano Observatory: Geophysicist (2007 - present)
- U.S. Geological Survey – Mineral Resources Program, Crustal Imaging and Characterization Team: Research Geologist (2000 - 2007)
- U.S. Geological Survey – Mineral Resources Program, Crustal Imaging and Characterization Team: Student (1996 - 2000)
Education
- Colorado School of Mines, M.S. Geological Engineering (2000)
- Northern Arizona University, B.S. Geology (1996)
Awards
- Department of Interior's Superior Service Award (2016): For the modernization of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s instrumentation system. Designed and implemented a fully-digital geophysical and geochemical instrumentation network with associated data flows, and reporting systems. In part, overseeing the expenditure of $3.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The system now operates as a single instrument network, spanning over 1,000 square kilometers on the Island of Hawai`i, consisting of multiple ringed topologies that can self-heal after failures due to hardware or natural disaster.
Publications
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KAhe16sAAAAJ&hl=en
Science and Products
Explosive activity on Kilauea’s Lower East Rift Zone fueled by a volatile-rich, dacitic melt
Magmas with matrix glass compositions ranging from basalt to dacite erupted from a series of 24 fissures in the first two weeks of the 2018 Lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption of Kīlauea Volcano. Eruption styles ranged from low spattering and fountaining to strombolian activity. Major element trajectories in matrix glasses and melt inclusions hosted by olivine, pyroxene and plagioclase are consis
The petrologic and degassing behavior of sulfur and other magmatic volatiles from the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea, Hawaiʻi: Melt concentrations, magma storage depths, and magma recycling
Kīlauea Volcano’s 2018 lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption produced exceptionally high lava effusion rates and record-setting SO2 emissions. The eruption involved a diverse range of magmas, including primitive basalts sourced from Kīlauea’s summit reservoirs. We analyzed LERZ matrix glasses, melt inclusions, and host minerals to identify melt volatile contents and magma storage depths. The LERZ g
Groundwater dynamics at Kīlauea Volcano and vicinity, Hawaiʻi
Kīlauea Volcano, on the Island of Hawaiʻi, is surrounded and permeated by active groundwater systems that interact dynamically with the volcanic system. A generalized conceptual model of Hawaiian hydrogeology includes high-level dike-impounded groundwater, very permeable perched and basal aquifers, and a transition (mixing) zone between freshwater and saltwater. Most high-level groundwater is asso
Monitoring network changes during the 2018 Kīlauea Volcano eruption
In the summer of 2018, Kīlauea Volcano underwent one of its most significant eruptions in the past few hundred years. The volcano’s summit and East Rift Zone magma system partially drained, resulting in a series of occasionally explosive partial caldera collapses, and widespread lava flows in the lower East Rift Zone. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) operates a robust permanent monitoring ne
Direct measurements of copper speciation in basaltic glasses: Understanding the relative roles of sulfur and oxygen in copper complexation in melts
Micro-analytical determination of copper (Cu) speciation in natural magmatic glasses, equilibrated below the nickel – nickel oxide (NNO) buffer, reveals that two copper species are commonly stabilized in such basaltic melts. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopic analysis of basaltic matrix glasses and melt inclusions (MI) from samples of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB), and from Nyamu
The tangled tale of Kīlauea’s 2018 eruption as told by geochemical monitoring
Changes in magma chemistry that affect eruptive behavior occur during many volcanic
eruptions, but typical analytical techniques are too slow to contribute to hazard monitoring. We
used rapid energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis to measure diagnostic elements in lava
samples within a few hours of collection during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption. The geochemical
data provided important info
The 2018 rift eruption and summit collapse of Kilauea Volcano
In 2018, Kīlauea Volcano experienced its largest lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption and caldera collapse in at least 200 years. After collapse of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō vent on 30 April, magma propagated downrift. Eruptive fissures opened in the LERZ on 3 May, eventually extending ~6.8 km. A 4 May earthquake (M6.9) produced ~5 m of fault slip. Lava erupted at rates exceeding 100 m3/s, eventually coveri
Accurate predictions of microscale oxygen barometry in basaltic glasses using V K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy: A multivariate approach
Because magmatic oxygen fugacity (fO2) exerts a primary control on the discrete vanadium (V) valence states that will exist in quenched melts, V valence proxies for fO2, measured using X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES), can provide highly sensitive measurements of the redox conditions in basaltic melts. However, published calibrations for basaltic glasses primarily relate measured in
Science and Products
- Publications
Explosive activity on Kilauea’s Lower East Rift Zone fueled by a volatile-rich, dacitic melt
Magmas with matrix glass compositions ranging from basalt to dacite erupted from a series of 24 fissures in the first two weeks of the 2018 Lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption of Kīlauea Volcano. Eruption styles ranged from low spattering and fountaining to strombolian activity. Major element trajectories in matrix glasses and melt inclusions hosted by olivine, pyroxene and plagioclase are consisThe petrologic and degassing behavior of sulfur and other magmatic volatiles from the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea, Hawaiʻi: Melt concentrations, magma storage depths, and magma recycling
Kīlauea Volcano’s 2018 lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption produced exceptionally high lava effusion rates and record-setting SO2 emissions. The eruption involved a diverse range of magmas, including primitive basalts sourced from Kīlauea’s summit reservoirs. We analyzed LERZ matrix glasses, melt inclusions, and host minerals to identify melt volatile contents and magma storage depths. The LERZ gGroundwater dynamics at Kīlauea Volcano and vicinity, Hawaiʻi
Kīlauea Volcano, on the Island of Hawaiʻi, is surrounded and permeated by active groundwater systems that interact dynamically with the volcanic system. A generalized conceptual model of Hawaiian hydrogeology includes high-level dike-impounded groundwater, very permeable perched and basal aquifers, and a transition (mixing) zone between freshwater and saltwater. Most high-level groundwater is assoMonitoring network changes during the 2018 Kīlauea Volcano eruption
In the summer of 2018, Kīlauea Volcano underwent one of its most significant eruptions in the past few hundred years. The volcano’s summit and East Rift Zone magma system partially drained, resulting in a series of occasionally explosive partial caldera collapses, and widespread lava flows in the lower East Rift Zone. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) operates a robust permanent monitoring neDirect measurements of copper speciation in basaltic glasses: Understanding the relative roles of sulfur and oxygen in copper complexation in melts
Micro-analytical determination of copper (Cu) speciation in natural magmatic glasses, equilibrated below the nickel – nickel oxide (NNO) buffer, reveals that two copper species are commonly stabilized in such basaltic melts. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopic analysis of basaltic matrix glasses and melt inclusions (MI) from samples of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB), and from NyamuThe tangled tale of Kīlauea’s 2018 eruption as told by geochemical monitoring
Changes in magma chemistry that affect eruptive behavior occur during many volcanic eruptions, but typical analytical techniques are too slow to contribute to hazard monitoring. We used rapid energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis to measure diagnostic elements in lava samples within a few hours of collection during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption. The geochemical data provided important infoThe 2018 rift eruption and summit collapse of Kilauea Volcano
In 2018, Kīlauea Volcano experienced its largest lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption and caldera collapse in at least 200 years. After collapse of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō vent on 30 April, magma propagated downrift. Eruptive fissures opened in the LERZ on 3 May, eventually extending ~6.8 km. A 4 May earthquake (M6.9) produced ~5 m of fault slip. Lava erupted at rates exceeding 100 m3/s, eventually coveriAccurate predictions of microscale oxygen barometry in basaltic glasses using V K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy: A multivariate approach
Because magmatic oxygen fugacity (fO2) exerts a primary control on the discrete vanadium (V) valence states that will exist in quenched melts, V valence proxies for fO2, measured using X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES), can provide highly sensitive measurements of the redox conditions in basaltic melts. However, published calibrations for basaltic glasses primarily relate measured in