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Eruption of Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawai`i

By Scott Bachmeier •

5-minute GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images, from 1601 UTC on 06 December to 0701 UTC on 07 December [click to play MP4 animation]

5-minute PACUS Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Shortwave Infrared images (above) displayed the pronounced thermal signature associated with an eruption of Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawai`i on 06 December 2025. According to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, this Episode 38 of the ongoing Halema`uma`u eruption (Episode 1 started on 23 December 2024) began at 1845 UTC — and there were 3 roughly equal sized 500 foot (150 meter) high lava fountains, with 2 from the north vents and 1 from the south vent. Such a triple fountain is an extremely rare event, and this is the first time during this current sequence of eruption episodes that it has been observed. Episode 38 then abruptly ended at 0652 UTC on 07 December, after 12.1 hours of continuous lava fountaining. It is notable that the formation of a dense volcanic cloud (cold, darker blue pixels) masked the GOES-18 thermal signature of Kilauea from 2001-2206 UTC.

As early as 1856 UTC, the thermal signature exhibited a 3.9 µm brightness temperature of 137.88ºC (below) — which is the saturation temperature of GOES-18 ABI Band 7 detectors. This saturated Band 7 shortwave infrared brightness temperature was seen until 0651 UTC (the end of Episode 38).

GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared image at 1856 UTC on 06 December, with a cursor sample of the brightness temperature value [click to enlarge]

During the ~2 hour period that the aforementioned dense volcanic cloud obscured the GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared thermal signature, there was a thermal signature seen in Next Generation Fire System (NGFS) imagery (below).

5-minute GOES-18 Ash RGB images with an overlay of NGFS Fire Detection polygons, from 2001-2206 UTC on 06 December [click to play MP4 animation]

Later in the eruption, volcanic tephra and ash fall were observed in the town of Pahala as lower-altitude volcanic clouds moved southwest from Kilauea (below).

GOES-18 Ash RGB image with an overlay of NGFS Fire Detection polygons at 0401 UTC on 07 December; the red box highlighted the town of Pahala, where volcanic tephra and ash fall were observed [click to enlarge]

A larger-scale view of GOES-18 Ash RGB images created using Geo2Grid (below) showed the rapid eastward transport of 2 long plumes of volcanic cloud that were composed primarily of SO2 (pale shades of green), in addition to the slower south-southwest transport of volcanic clouds that were composed of both SO2 and a mixture of ash and SO2 (shades of yellow). The dense volcanic cloud that emerged from the summit of Kilauea beginning around 2001 UTC, composed of both ash and SO2, also moved eastward.

5-minute GOES-18 Ash RGB images, from 1851 UTC on 06 December to 0656 UTC on 07 December [click to play MP4 animation]

Plots of rawinsonde data from Hilo on the Big Island of Hawai`i (below) showed westerly winds above the 450 hPa pressure level, which transported the higher-altitude volcanic clouds to the east — and easterly to northeasterly winds within the 700-500 hPa pressure level, which carried lower-altitude volcanic clouds to the west and southwest.

Plots of rawinsonde data from Hilo, Hawai`i at 1200 UTC on 06 December and 0000 UTC on 07 December [click to enlarge]

GOES-18 True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (below) provided a closer view of the dense volcanic cloud that formed at 2001 UTC and moved eastward. In addition, an overshooting top was frequently seen directly over the eruption site.

5-minute GOES-18 True Color RGB images, from 1701 UTC on 06 December to 0306 UTC on 07 December [click to play MP4 animation]

Categories: Geo2Grid, GOES-18, NGFS, RealEarth, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Volcanic activity