Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has updated its Kilauea webcam network, adding new cameras and decommissioning old ones that are no longer useful for monitoring purposes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The webcams are listed on the Kilauea webcam page on the HVO website (volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/). Each camera provides static webcam images, as well as timelapse loops of the past 24 hours.
There are now six cameras monitoring the volcano’s summit area, located within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
To track the growing water lake at the summit of Kilauea, HVO set up a temporary webcam, K3cam, several months ago. In cooperation with Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, K3cam recently was replaced with two permanent cameras on the west rim of the caldera — KWcam and F1cam.
In addition to tracking the lake, these two cameras “see” most of the Halema‘uma‘u crater and down-dropped caldera floor that collapsed in 2018, the USGS said.
The new KWcam is a wide-angle visual camera that replaces the former KWcam, which is now called KW2cam. F1cam is co-located with the new KWcam to provide accompanying thermal imagery.
KW2cam, located in the observation tower of HVO’s former building on Kilauea’s caldera rim, will continue to provide live images until it is decommissioned.
The K3cam was relocated 547 yards farther south on Kilauea caldera’s west rim to provide a better view of the crater lake within Halema‘uma‘u.
A team of USGS geologists, field engineers, and information technologists maintains HVO’s summit and East Rift Zone webcam networks, which include fixed-view, thermal and time-lapse cameras to monitor and observe changes on Hawaii’s volcanoes.
Some webcams are permanent installations, and others are deployed temporarily for research or response purposes, according to the USGS.
For example, a temporary webcam deployed to monitor fissure 8 shortly after the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption ended was recently decommissioned due to lack of volcanic activity.
HVO will continue to adjust its webcam networks as needed to provide maximum benefit to monitoring Hawaii volcanoes, according to the USGS.
