Beginning in late 2022, lava flows from Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano cut off access to one of the world’s most important climate observation sites.
The eruption damaged the road leading to NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory and destroyed power lines serving the remote facility.
Since then, scientists have been able to reach the site by helicopter.
Following the eruption, science programs were disrupted before partial measurements resumed in mid-2023, with 62 of 91 daily programs currently operational.
NOAA is reopening the site and restoring scientific operations while upgrading the campus infrastructure. These projects include expanded rooftop solar generation and building-wide battery backup systems to improve site resilience.
Decades of climate observations faced an unexpected interruption
Located on Hawaii’s Big Island at an elevation of 3,397 meters (11,135 feet), the Mauna Loa Observatory has continuously provided atmospheric and radiative data since 1958. It also provides the longest in-situ record of the levels of certain long-lived trace gases.
This continuity was abruptly disrupted in November 2022 when lava from the eruption destroyed about six thousand feet of roadway. The eruption also destroyed the electrical infrastructure supplying the observatory. According to NOAA, the average thickness of the lava flows was around thirty to thirty-five feet.
In response to the damage caused by the eruption, scientists rapidly took action to preserve critical measurements. Within ten days, NOAA and partners from the University of Hawaii installed CO2 measuring equipment on Mauna Kea to serve as replacements for those lost due to the destruction of the Mauna Loa Observatory. The equipment preserved a continuous climate record.
Conditions at Mauna Loa remained difficult. The site itself would remain inaccessible for years, forcing technicians to travel by helicopter.
Solar power helped rebuild more than access
By early 2023, indications of recovery began to appear. NOAA augmented existing rooftop solar generation and added battery systems to restore limited power across key buildings.
Those additions enabled enough power to allow scientists to begin restarting previously suspended work at the observatory. As stated by NOAA, that development enabled them to restore approximately one third of the atmospherically based measurement capability that existed before the eruption. Today sixty-two of ninety-one daily measurement programs conducted at Mauna Loa are operational.
By mid-March 2026, construction workers completed a temporary path across the lava flow. That accomplishment restored vehicular access to the observatory more than three years after the eruption.
NOAA has initiated a broad plan to upgrade and expand its campus. Additional details about those recovery efforts are available from NOAA.
Planned improvements include buildings constructed with maximum possible rooftop solar exposure.
Other improvements will include campus wide battery backed up power systems, new power and communication systems, and additional workshop and laboratory space. More information about the observatory’s solar monitoring activities is available through NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory.
The site is being renovated for long-term operation in one of the most remote scientific environments in the U.S.
The recovery effort changed how the observatory operates
The site is also home to one of NOAA’s most significant solar-radiation-based research initiatives. Additionally, according to NOAA, Mauna Loa’s historical record of solar transmission is among the longest continuing records of its type.
Researchers at Mauna Loa monitor solar and thermal infrared radiation as well as atmospheric aerosol properties continuously. Their findings help researchers understand how solar energy moves through Earth’s climate system and how airborne particulates affect the amount of sunlight reaching the surface.
Because it sits high above much of Earth’s lower atmosphere, researchers can observe changes in radiation patterns and atmospheric composition over extended periods. However, that same vulnerability has demonstrated how easily that body of research can be disrupted.
Solar generation is becoming a larger part of daily operations at Mauna Loa. Battery storage is also expanding across the site as modernization efforts continue.
Read the whole thing?
Get the week's signal, not the noise
Our sharpest reporting on energy, climate and nature — free, once a week.
