Dramatic Changes from Kilauea Leilani Estates Lava Flows Seen by NASA Spacecraft

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection (ASTER) instrument onboard NASA's Terra spacecraft obtained near-infrared data of the ongoing Kilauea volcano eruption and its impact on the Leilani Estates area on May 15, 2018 (left) and June 23, 2018 (right). The current eruption began May 3. Red areas are vegetated, while white areas are clouds or volcanic plumes. The new dark areas show where the ground has been covered with lava flows. The lava seen here, flowing a high rate of volume from a vent designated Fissure 8, flowed eastward to the coast. In early June 2018, these rapidly moving flows destroying hundreds of homes in and around the towns of Vacationland and Kapoho, and filled in Kapoho Bay. The flows are now creating a new broad delta, extending the island of Hawaii. A plume has formed where incandescent lava flows into the Pacific. In the ASTER observation obtained on June 23, a well-developed leveed and perched lava channel flowing from left to right is clearly seen. For the month of June, flow activity was mostly confined to Fissure 8 and areas fed by this lava channel. The image was acquired June 23, 2018, covers an area of about 14 by 14 miles (23 by 23 kilometers), and is located at 19.6 degrees north, 154.9 degrees west.

With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of about 50 to 300 feet (15 to 90 meters), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on Terra. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and data products.

The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.

The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

More information about ASTER is available at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/.