Videos

27 December 2020 - Kīlauea Volcano US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory - Evening views of the eruption in Halema‘uma‘u. The west vent remained active overnight, with strombolian-like bursts and lava cascades. Lava cascading from the vent plunges into the lava lake in multiple places, causing local upwelling.

A helicopter overflight on December 26, 2020, provided aerial views of the eruption in Halema‘uma‘u. This video, which is sped up 3 times, shows the lava lake and active west vent that rejuvenated just before 3 a.m. HST today. Visual and thermal imagery collected during the overflight are used to map the ongoing activity.

Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS) video clips of the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater at Kīlauea Volcano’s summit. This collection of video clips from December 25, 2020 taken with UAS shows the then-dominant north vent fountain and occasional weak spattering from the west vent.

This thermal timelapse (from F1cam webcam) shows the switch from water lake to lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, spanning December 20 to December 24. During the initial phase of lava appearing in the crater, a large steam plume is generated as lava interacts with and boils off the water lake.

23 December 2020 - Kīlauea Volcano US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Clip 1: A mid-day helicopter overflight provided aerial views of the eruption in Halema'uma'u crater. This video shows two active fissures erupting lava into a growing lava lake. Visual and thermal images collected during the overflight are used to map the ongoing activity.

 Telephoto videos capture fissure activity within Halema‘uma‘u crater on December 22, 2020, at approximately 3:35 PM HST. (1) The first video shows the main northern fissure. The lava fountains have built up a horseshoe-shaped spatter cone (dark in color) around the perimeter of the vent. (2) 2) The second video shows the smaller western fissure.

Fissures Feed a Lava Lake at Halema'uma'u, at Kīlauea Volcano's Summit. Since fissures opened on December 20, 2020 in Halema'uma'u crater, USGS–Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists have maintained a 24-hour watch from the rim, taking measurements and making visual observations.

Two fissure vents feed a growing lava lake at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u crater. A preliminary calculation of volume suggests that since the start of the eruption on December 20, 2020, approximately 8-10 million cubic meters of lava have been erupted. This is equivalent to over 2 billion gallons, the volume of 3,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Lava returns to Halema'uma'u, at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano.

Lava Returns to Halema'uma'u, as captured in this timelapse from the K2cam, located at the HVO Observation Tower (Kīlauea Volcano). Timelapse is from December 20, 2020, 5:50 a.m. to December 21, 2020, 11:57 p.m.

On December 20, 2020 just after 9:30 PM HST, lava began flowing from three fissure vents inside the crater of Kīlauea. The water lake at the base of the Halema'uma'u crater has boiled off. Lava is now feeding a growing lava lake.

The USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) Initiative scientist Jennifer Rover offers examples of LCMAP Science Product uses at the 2020 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Winter Meeting.
 

What do USGS Hydrologic Technicians do on the job? This video features five different Hydrologic Technicians from Washington Water Science Center and Nevada Water Science Center sharing some of their work. This video was sponsored by the USGS Hydrologic Data Advisory Committee.
 

Arc volcanoes often show evidence for new magma coming from the lower crust and interacting with old magma in the shallow crustal storage system.

The western wall of Uzbekistan's Sardoba Reservoir breached on May 1st, 2020 after a week of heavy rain. Thousands were evacuated as water rushed north into farmland and villages across the central Asian country and into neighboring Kazakhstan. Imagery from Europe's Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite shows water pooling across a wide area.

This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the establishment of the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory. The lab hosted a live webinar to highlight the long history between the Bird Banding Lab and US Fish & Wildlife Services, and how they have impacted avian science in the past 100 years.

The largest gravity changes ever recorded: Continuous gravity monitoring of the onset of Kīlauea’s 2018 eruption Talk by Mike Poland–USGS Yellowstone Volcano Observatory Scientist-in-Charge and former USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geophysicist.

Talk by Hannah Dietterich–Alaska Volcano Observatory geologist. Talk originally presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2020.

This timelapse sequence shows 3.5 hours of activity at the water lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. Several influx zones supply groundwater into the lake from the margins, creating shifting color zones on the lake surface. No significant changes have been observed in recent lake activity. USGS video by M. Patrick.
 

Talk by Tina Neal–USGS Alaska Volcano Observatory geologist and former USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Scientist-in-Charge. Talk originally presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2020.

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