Videos

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist emeritus Don Swanson on a virtual walk, during which you learn about the past 500 years of Kīlauea Volcano’s history as revealed by rocks, craters, and cracks.

Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist emeritus Don Swanson on a virtual walk, during which you learn about the past 500 years of Kīlauea Volcano’s history as revealed by rocks, craters, and cracks.

Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist emeritus Don Swanson on a virtual walk, during which you learn about the past 500 years of Kīlauea Volcano’s history as revealed by rocks, craters, and cracks.

USGS–Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Geophysicist Jefferson Chang talks about technologies that track activity at Hawaiian volcanoes and how crowdsourcing and citizen science can contribute to a greater understanding of hazards, in this presentation to the 2020 SACNAS Advancing Hispanics/Chicanos & Native Americans in Science virtual conference held October 19-24,

A helicopter overflight on September 23, 2020, provided airborne views of the water lake at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. Visual and thermal images collected during the overflight are used for mapping the slowly enlarging lake. A segment of the video shows the remains of Crater Rim Drive, a portion of which collapsed during the 2018 summit activity.

This video, taken on September 23, 2020, shows a small area of bubbling or upwelling along the western shoreline of the water lake at the summit of Kīlauea. This feature may result from a submerged fumarole (gas vent) on the crater wall. The extent of this feature is limited and it does not seem to have a significant effect on the overall lake surface activity.

The color zones on the lake surface shift from minute to minute. This video shows how the color zones were creating a large swirl in the lake center. USGS video by M. Patrick.

This video shows a close-up of the northern shoreline of the water lake at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. Steaming and subtle ripples are present on the water surface. Zooming out gives a sense of the scale of the lake. The lake level is approximately 576 meters (1890 ft) below the camera. USGS video by M. Patrick.