Images

At 9:48 PM on Friday, August 23, 2013, a collapse of a piece of the wall above the lava lake in Halema`uma`u triggered a small explosion. The explosion bombarded the rim of Halema`uma`u around the old visitor overlook with molten gobs of spatter as big as dinner plates.

USGS diver taking a core of a 100-year-old coral to allow reconstruction of past ocean temperatures in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Aerial view toward the southwest of the actively erupting cone within Veniaminof caldera. The white steam plume is produced where a lava flow is descending the side of the cone and melting snow and ice. The darker colored, ashy plume is rising in bursts from the active vent.

USGS scientists Robert Sickler (left) and Rufus Catchings (right) carrying an auger to a drill hole for seismic survey.

USGS scientists Robert Sickler (below) and Rufus Catchings (standing) attaching a section of an auger bit in order to drill a hole for a seismic survey.

The ocean entry east of the National Park boundary near Kupapa‘u Point remains weak, with a wispy plume, as seen in this photo looking southwest along the coast.

The lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u was 35 m (115 ft) below the floor of the crater this morning. The lake is about 220 m (720 ft) long and 160 m (525 ft) wide.

Instead, the lava lake was spattering at points on the west and northwest side of the lake. This photo shows the spattering on the lake's northwest side. The pit wall to the right overhangs the lake by about 10 m (33 ft). If the lake continues to rise, pieces of this overhang may collapse (note the cracks at lower right marking planes of weakness).

The main entry point of the Kupapa‘u ocean entry comprises a few small streams of lava, seen here cascading into the water.

The Kahauale‘a 2 flow continues to invade the forest line north of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Poor weather prevented good views but made for an eerie scene.

This image was captured on Friday, August 9, by the Advanced Land Imager sensor aboard NASA's Earth Observing 1 satellite, and shows Kīlauea volcano from the summit down the east rift zone. Although this is a false-color image, the color map has been chosen to mimic what the human eye would expect to see.

Using a telephoto camera lens, an HVO scientist captured this view of the Kupapa‘u Point ocean entry on the morning of August 7. Although no lava flow activity was observed on the coastal plain near the ocean entry, small streams of lava still poured into the sea.

Zooming his camera in even more.... An up-close view of the easternmost lava streams entering the ocean. Reminder to all lava observers: Peering through a telephoto lens is the safest way to view Kīlauea Volcano's ocean entry.

Lava enters ocean at Kupapa‘u Point, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i. Photographed with a telephoto lens, the safest way to view the interaction of lava and seawater on the edge of an active delta.

This summer, crews made significant modifications to a monitoring station on the southwest flank of Mount St. Helens, greatly improving its operability in winter.

Crews survey Loowit Creek channel and other points inside the crater. Elevation information is used to make a longitudinal profile of the channel, characterizing areas where sediment is either deposited or transported and how the channel is changing with time. View to the north, with Spirit Lake and Mount Rainier in the background.

Loowit Creek is fed from a mixture of springs (groundwater) and Crater Glacier meltwater. Observations are made of stream turbidity, or of the amount of fine particles suspended in the water. View is to the south, toward the crater.

A survey base station is established using a RTK-GPS receiver with mobile units to collect data points in and around the crater. Information will be used to monitor surface changes, deformation, erosion and aggradation inside the crater. This type of technology is precise to the centimeter. View is to the south of Mount St.

Monitoring and upgrading ground-based sensor networks at the most active volcano in the Cascades is an on-going process. Crews made significant modifications to a seismic monitoring station on the southwest flank of Mount St. Helens, greatly improving its operability in winter.

Monitoring stations need to be portable. Weighing about 500 pounds, this "swing set" structure can be airlifted into place or moved, as volcano monitoring needs change. An additional 1,000 pounds of equipment will need to be added to make the station fully functional.

Crews access remote monitoring sites by helicopter. Pictured out the window of the helicopter is a GPS and camera station, dedicated to remotely monitoring changes inside the crater and under the crater floor.