Images

Aerial image of eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea Volcano's summit taken during an overflight at approximately 7:30 a.m. HST on September 30, 2021. Lava continues to erupt from multiple vents along the floor and western wall of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. As of this afternoon all lava activity is confined within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater.

Aerial image of eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea Volcano's summit taken during an overflight at approximately 7:30 a.m. HST on September 30, 2021. The nascent lava lake has been rising approximately one meter (yard) an hour since the eruption began.

Telephoto aerial image of eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea Volcano's summit taken during an overflight at approximately 7:30 a.m. HST on September 30, 2021. This photo shows several of the fountaining sources on the base of Halemaʻumaʻu, which are only a few meters (yards) high. USGS image by K. Mulliken. 

Telephoto aerial image of eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea Volcano's summit taken during an overflight at approximately 7:30 a.m. HST on September 30, 2021. A series of fountains in the central portion of the lava lake are visible, as well as the prominent vent in the west wall of Halemaʻumaʻu.

Telephoto aerial image of eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea Volcano's summit taken during an overflight at approximately 7:30 a.m. HST on September 30, 2021. This photo shows two of the many spattering sources active in the base of Halemaʻumaʻu, feeding the growing lava lake. The south wall of Halemaʻumaʻu crater is visible in the upper left portion of the image.

Telephoto aerial image of eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea Volcano's summit taken during an overflight at approximately 7:30 a.m. HST on September 30, 2021. This photo shows the eastern portoin of the nascent lava lake, where it meets the wall of Halemaʻumaʻu crater.

Oblique telephoto aerial image of eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea Volcano's summit taken during an overflight at approximately 7:30 a.m. HST on September 30, 2021.

Oblique aerial image of eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea Volcano's summit taken during an overflight at approximately 7:30 a.m. HST on September 30, 2021. This view shows multiple active spattering sources in southern central part of Halemaʻumaʻu, and associated plumes of volcanic gas.

Telephoto aerial image of eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea Volcano's summit taken during an overflight at approximately 7:30 a.m. HST on September 30, 2021. The active vent in the west wall of Halemaʻumaʻu is vigorously fountaining, and is one of many fountaining sources active in the lava lake right now.

On the evening of September 30, 2021, the new eruption in Halema'uma'u at Kīlauea summit continued with several active vents in the middle of the lake and on the west side. USGS image by K. Lynn. 

This zoomed-in photo of the western fissure within Halema‘uma‘u was captured at 9:00 a.m. on September 30, 2021. Eruptive activity at this location is very similar to that of the northern fissure from the December 2020 eruption, with lava fountains feeding a short cascade down to the rising lava lake.

Morning light and shifts in the volcanic gas plume allowed field crews on September 30 to glimpse the surface of the main island that remains from the 12/2020–5/2021 lava lake. The island appears to be blanketed with a new coating of spatter and tephra from nearby fissures within the lava lake, with minor overflows at the edges.

This overview photo of the lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u was captured from the west rim of the crater shortly after noon on September 30, 2021. Several fissures, erupting through the lava lake, stretch from the lake's center to its southern (right) margin.

On September 30, 2021, a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory gas scientist takes notes based on the spectra being displayed by the field laptop, which is connected to a FTIR spectrometer on the rim of Halema‘uma‘u crater.

On September 30, 2021, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory gas scientists used a FTIR spectrometer on the rim of Halema‘uma‘u crater to measure the composition of gases being emitted during Kīlauea's summit eruption, which began the afternoon of Septembe 29, 2021.

The eruption within Halema'uma'u, at Kīlauea summit within Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, continues at dawn on September 30, 2021. Fountaining at multiple fissure locations on the base and west wall of the crater continues, and a lava lake is growing within Halema'uma'u.

The USGS Active Groundwater Level Network includes about 20,000 wells that have been measured by the USGS or USGS cooperators at least once within the past 13 months. The animation shows snapshots of water-level statistics in the network during September 2021.

This thermal image was taken during the morning overflight on September 30, 2021, and looks west across Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Several fountains are emerging through the active lake surface, in addition to fountaining on the west margin of the lake.

A helicopter overflight on September 30, 2021, at approximately 7:30 a.m. HST allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. This thermal map shows the extent of the new lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u.

A helicopter overflight on September 30, 2021, at approximately 7:30 a.m. HST allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. This thermal map shows a closer view of the new lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u.

This image from a video camera pointed at the coast tracks the brightest pixels in the camera view over 10 minutes of video. The resulting image is useful for identifying features such as the position of maximum wave run-up on the beach, the position of all breaking waves, and sea-state.