Automated tracking of lava lake level using thermal images at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i
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Abstract
Tracking the level of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u Crater, at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i, is an essential part of monitoring the ongoing eruption and forecasting potentially hazardous changes in activity. We describe a simple automated image processing routine that analyzes continuously-acquired thermal images of the lava lake and measures lava level. The method uses three image segmentation approaches, based on edge detection, short-term change analysis, and composite temperature thresholding, to identify and track the lake margin in the images. These relative measurements from the images are periodically calibrated with laser rangefinder measurements to produce real-time estimates of lake elevation. Continuous, automated tracking of the lava level has been an important tool used by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory since 2012 in real-time operational monitoring of the volcano and its hazard potential.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Automated tracking of lava lake level using thermal images at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i |
| Series title | Journal of Applied Volcanology |
| DOI | 10.1186/s13617-016-0047-0 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Year Published | 2016 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Contributing office(s) | Volcano Science Center |
| Description | 7 p. |
| First page | 1 |
| Last page | 7 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Hawaii |
| Other Geospatial | Kilauea volcano |
| Online Only (Y/N) | N |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |