Abstract
Continuously operating thermal cameras are becoming more common around the world for volcano monitoring, and offer distinct advantages over conventional visual webcams for observing volcanic activity. Thermal cameras can sometimes “see” through volcanic fume that obscures views to visual webcams and the naked eye, and often provide a much clearer view of the extent of high temperature areas and activity levels. We describe a thermal camera network recently installed by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory to monitor Kīlauea’s summit and east rift zone eruptions (at Halema‘uma‘u and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō craters, respectively) and to keep watch on Mauna Loa’s summit caldera. The cameras are long-wave, temperature-calibrated models protected in custom enclosures, and often positioned on crater rims close to active vents. Images are transmitted back to the observatory in real-time, and numerous Matlab scripts manage the data and provide automated analyses and alarms. The cameras have greatly improved HVO’s observations of surface eruptive activity, which includes highly dynamic lava lake activity at Halema‘uma‘u, major disruptions to Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater and several fissure eruptions.
Highlights
Webcams are a standard and essential component of effective volcano monitoring (Kirianov et al 2002; Poland et al 2008a; Hoblitt et al 2008; Moran et al 2008; Behncke et al 2009; Ripepe et al 2009; Patrick et al 2010; Arason et al 2011; Schaefer 2012; Orr et al 2013a)
Overall contribution The fixed thermal cameras in this study have provided a major improvement to monitoring at HVO
One of the primary benefits of the thermal cameras in Hawai‘i is their ability to see through volcanic fume
Summary
Webcams are a standard and essential component of effective volcano monitoring (Kirianov et al 2002; Poland et al 2008a; Hoblitt et al 2008; Moran et al 2008; Behncke et al 2009; Ripepe et al 2009; Patrick et al 2010; Arason et al 2011; Schaefer 2012; Orr et al 2013a). Often (but not always), thermal cameras can “see” through thick volcanic fume, providing a view of active vents that would not otherwise be possible. Perhaps most importantly, they offer an unambiguous depiction of the extent of hot, warm and cool areas, making discrimination between active, recently active, and inactive surfaces very straightforward. The lava lake experienced major fluctuations in height during 2011, with abrupt drops corresponding to eruptive activity on Kīlauea’s east rift zone The largest of these occurred in March 2011, when the lava lake dropped about 140 m (and disappeared from the vent crater) following the Kamoamoa intrusion/eruption in the east rift zone (Orr et al 2013b)
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