Images

Unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) flights on May 18, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

Unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) flights on May 18, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

A view of Isaac Hale Beach Park (also known as Pohoiki) in the lower Puna District on the Island of Hawai‘i. Lava from the 2018 Kīlauea lower East Rift Zone eruption, emplaced in late July 2018, is visible on the left. USGS photo taken during a helicopter overflight on May 12, 2022, by N. Deligne.

 Ahuʻailāʻau (the cone built during the eruption of Fissure 8) was the most active vent during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea on the Island of Hawai‘i. During a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory routine monitoring overflight on May 12, 2022, the prominent feature was visible in the row of fissures. USGS photo J. Schmith.

Kapoho Crater, with its lush green slopes, was surrounded by lava during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea. Lava flowed all the way around and into the center of the crater, covering the lower part of the cone. Now, the slopes of the crater form a Kīpuka, or area surrounded by younger lava flows. USGS photo by J. Schmith on May 12, 2022.

A helicopter overflight on May 10, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

This reference map depicts the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption on May 16, 2022. One eruptive vent (orange) is active within Halema‘uma‘u, on the western side of the crater floor.

A telephoto image of the west vent (lower right) and active lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, the crater within Kīlauea volcano's summit caldera. Spattering lava is visible around the eastern (top) and southern (upper right) lake margins. The lava lake is approximately 168 m (551 ft) east-west (top to bottom), and 60 m (197 ft) north-south (left to right).

A wide view of Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, looking east. Volcanic gas emission rates remain elevated, with sulfur dioxide measured at about 2,800 tonnes per day on May 12. Volcanic gasses are emitted from the west vent complex, the active lava lake, and from other cracks around the crater floor. USGS photo taken by L.

An overflight at approximately 10 a.m. on May 10, 2022, provided aerial views of the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater. Lava continues to erupt from the west vent area, supplying an active lava pond in the western portion of Halema‘uma‘u within Kīlauea summit caldera. USGS photograph by K. Mulliken. 

A view of the lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea, taken during a helicopter overflight the morning of May 10, 2022. The image is taken from the east side of the crater looking to the west. The west vent cone complex can be seen in the far western side of the lake.

A view of the former Jaggar Museum and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory buildings, located on the northwest rim of Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. The buildings were closed in 2018 due to damage to the buildings during the Kīlauea summit collapse events of that year.

A view of the lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea taken from the south, looking north. An orange glow can be seen in the active part of the lava lake. The dark gray area at the bottom of the photo is a lava flow from September 1982. The dark tan exposure to the north of the 1982 flow is the Keanakāko‘i Ash (ca. 1500–1820 CE).

A) Top left, photo of Halemaʻumaʻu before the 2018 collapse events started with the decade-long active lava lake that formed in 2008. B) Top right, photo after the 2018 collapse events had dropped the crater floor of Halemaʻumaʻu by more than 1,600 ft (500 m) over the course of just 4 months.

Telephoto view looking east of the southeast embayment of the active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u, Kīlauea, on April 26 2022. In this photo, lava from the active lava lake (silvery grey surface in lower left quadrant of photo) cascades into the southeast embayment (red surface).

 Telephoto view looking east of the active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea. The western vent complex is located at the bottom of the photo; incandescence is visible near the top of within the tallest cone on the right bottom of the photograph. USGS photo by N. Deligne. 

The eruption continues within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of KILUAEA on April 26, 2022. The active lava lake is visible within the middle right of the photo and has a silvery surface appearance. Within the active lava lake, lava flows from an inlet on the west (bottom) margin towards the east.

Eruptive activity continues within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea on April 15, 2022. Since the beginning of this eruption on September 29, 2021, the crater floor has seen a total rise of about 99 meters (325 feet).

A close-up view of lava spattering along the eastern side of the active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea on April 15, 2022. USGS photo taken by J.M. Chang from the western rim of Halema‘uma‘u.

A view of the west vent cone complex within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea, with two areas of orange glow visible. The photo was taken at 12:16 pm HST on April 15, 2022, from the western rim of Halema‘uma‘u. USGS photo by J.M. Chang.

A geologist examines a two-meter-thick (7 feet) tephra outcrop on the southeast flank of Mauna Loa. USGS photo by J.M. Chang.