Eruption of Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawai’i

By Scott Bachmeier • 23 December 2024

GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, left) and Fire Mask derived product (right), from 1201 UTC on 23rd December to 0006 UTC on 24th December [click to play MP4 animation]

5-minute CONUS Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and Fire Mask derived product images (above) displayed a pronounced thermal signature associated with an eruption in the Halema’uma’u crater (located within the Kilauea summit caldera) on the Big Island of Hawai’i, which began around 1220 UTC (2:20 AM HST) on 23rd December 2024. Yellow pixels in the Fire Mask product denoted 3.9 µm brightness temperatures that had reached 137.88ºC — the saturation temperature of GOES-18 ABI Band 7 detectors — which first occurred at 1251 UTC, about 30 minutes after eruption onset.

Since the Kilauea eruption began during the nighttime hours, its thermal signature was also apparent in GOES-18 Near-Infrared 0.86 µm, 1.61 µm and 2.24 µm spectral bands (below).

GOES-18 Near-Infrared (0.86 µm, left, 1.61 µm, middle and 2.24 µm, right) images, from 1201-1631 UTC on 23rd December [click to play MP4 animation]

GOES-18 True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (below) showed the southwest transport of volcanic fog (vog) — a mixture of SO₂, CO₂ and water vapor — from the Kilauea eruption site.

GOES-18 True Color RGB images [click to play MP4 animation]

GOES-18 SO2 RGB images from RealEarth (below) confirmed the presence of SO2 (lighter shades of cyan) within the vog plume that was drifting southwest from Kilauea — the cluster of dark blue pixels denoted the thermal anomaly associated with the eruption site.

GOES-18 SO2 RGB images, from 1201 UTC on 23rd December to 0301 UTC on 24th December [click to play MP4 animation]

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

CIMSS Satellite Blog

CIMSS Satellite Blog

Eruption of Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawai’i