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Eruption of Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawai`i

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, top) and SO2 RGB images (bottom), from 0051-0231 UTC on 11 September [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

5-minute PACUS Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and SO2 RGB images (above) showed the thermal anomaly (heat signature) and a plume of SO2 (brighter shades of cyan) for 1.5 hours following the onset of an eruption of Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawai`i late in the day on 10 September 2023.

The Kilauea eruption began at 0115 UTC on 11 September (3:15 PM HST on 10 September) — and about 15 minutes later, the GOES-18 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared brightness temperature sensed at the volcano summit reached 137.88ºC (below) — which is the saturation temperature of GOES-18 ABI Band 7 detectors.

Cursor sample of GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, top) and SO2 RGB (bottom) images at 0131 UTC [click to enlarge]

GOES-18 True Color RGB + Nighttime Microphysics RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (below) displayed the volcanic plume as it moved southwest; the Kilauea summit’s thermal anomaly appeared as darker blue pixels in the final (0411 UTC) Nighttime Microphysics RGB image of the animation.

GOES-18 True Color RGB + Nighttime Microphysics RGB images, 0056-1101 UTC on 11 September [click to play MP4 animation]

A longer animation of larger-scale GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared and SO2 RGB images (below) revealed the continued southwest transport of the SO2 plume for about 10 hours post-eruption. The GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared brightness temperature sensed at the Kilauea summit remained at the aforementioned 137.88ºC saturation temperature for nearly the entire time period shown.

GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and SO2 RGB images, 0051-1101 UTC on 11 September [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

A Suomi-NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) image valid at 1247 UTC or 2:47 AM HST (below) showed a large bright signature over the Kilauea area, due to the intense glow of the volcanic lava flows. The VIIRS instrument was scanning from NW to SE; note the dark streak extending SE of the bright Kilauea glow, which was a hysteresis effect due to the sensor becoming saturated by the intense volcanic signature.

Suomi-NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) image, valid at 1247 UTC [click to enlarge]

Categories: GOES-18, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Suomi NPP, VIIRS, Volcanic activity