The 2022 eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano cut off road access to the Mauna Loa Baseline Observatory. Construction on the temporary Mauna Loa Access road was completed on 26 March, 2026.
At this time, there is no site access for the general public to the Mauna Loa Observatory and NOAA has not yet established a public opening date. GML and scientific partners are working together to bring mission critical scientific projects back online. It is still unclear when utility infrastructure will be replaced and power re-established to the site.
We will provide another update as more information becomes available.
Media contact: Theo Stein at (303) 819-7409 or theo.stein@noaa.gov.
Organization(s):
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech)
What does this program measure?
Isotopes of Helium; Helium 3 and 4. Units of measure: mol/gramme
How does this program work?
Noble gas Mass spectrometry Analysis of Magnetically separated cosmic dust particles.
Why is this research important?
To measure Temporal Variability of Inter-Planetary Dust Particles (IDPs) influx.
Are there any trends in the data?
Yes, Periodic enrichment and depletion of helium 3 isotope.
How does this program fit into the big picture?
What is it's role in global climate change?
Understanding the IDP influx allows us to quantify time scales of major climatic events in Earth's history
Comments and References
This project is no longer active.
Lead Investigator(s):
Prof. Kenneth A. Farley
626-395-6005
MLO Contact(s):
Dr. John E Barnes
808-933-6965 (x222)
Web Site(s)
not applicable
Date Started
1998
RETIRED
Related Programs
Photographs:
