USGS reported in late 2020 that Kalauea’s current phase of activity has inspired volcanologists to experiment with cutting edge techniques to understand the dynamic colors' and patterns' newest feature: a steaming hot water lake. For fifteen months now, hot groundwater has been seeping into the collapse pit created by the evacuation of the 2008–2018 Halema‘uma‘u lava lake and part of the underlying summit magma chamber. Since the gaping pit and the water lake rising within are physically inaccessible, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) uses remote techniques to monitor this changing, and potentially hazardous, environment.
HVO uses Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS, or ‘drones’) to collect water samples, the chemical analyses of which are snapshots of lake composition. Visual and thermal cameras keep constant watch on the lake surface and the hot fumaroles surrounding it. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) helps to reveal the lake’s growing form. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is integrated with frequent water level measurements to calculate lake depth, volume, and inflow rate. These quantitative data sets are complemented by the written accounts of HVO scientists, who document their first-hand observations in field logs.
The lake gives strong impressions of color, pattern, and motion. When it first emerged, it was described as a pond of milky turquoise water. Later, it developed yellow hues and green shoreline margins. Today, the lake surface has lobes of rust orange water over expanses of deep brown, with patches of light brown and tan. Elongated green inflows emerge from the rocky shoreline, along which several ruddy spots have recently upwelled.
The water surface is a mosaic in constant motion, a scene that changes by the minute and hour. Sharply defined color boundaries are often seen, accompanied by more subtle gradients and mixing. The patchwork waters may indicate zones of distinct temperature and dissolved constituents, and their movement is likely driven by differentials of density, wind, and fresh groundwater inflow.
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