(BIVN) – The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory recently published new maps showing the ongoing changes at the summit of Kilauea.
Scientists say a helicopter overflight on February 2, 2023, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater inside Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.
“Recent HVO helicopter overflights have been unable to produce accurate structure-from-motion models of the Halema‘uma‘u crater floor due to the thick volcanic gas plume,” noted scientists. “For this reason, no updated statistics can be provided for the average crater floor elevation or the erupted lava volume. Since thermal images can see through the plume, updated eruptive features were digitized from thermal images captured during the HVO overflight on February 2.”
No significant changes have been observed at the summit or in either rift zone, scientists say, and the current Volcano Alert Level remains at WATCH.