(BIVN) – Scientists have released the closest video yet recorded of the Kīlauea Volcano summit crater lake.

This week, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory posted on its website footage that was captured by an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) as it collected a water sample from the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u.

Limited UAS flights in this area are conducted with permission and coordination with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, USGS says. The sampling of the new water feature at the summit was previously reported. The information is used to assess hazards at Kīlauea’s summit, and is shared with the National Park Service and emergency managers, USGS says.

The new video, recorded as the UAV hovered directly over the steaming lake, included a thermal view of the sampling mission. Both videos were released without audio.

“Initial testing of the Kīlauea summit crater lake water sample revealed a pH of 4.2,” the scientists wrote previously. “This value is acidic, though not as low as at some other volcanic lakes around the world, which can have pH values near or lower than zero. The conductivity of the water, related to the amount of dissolved solids, was above the upper limit of our current sensor. We were unsuccessful in obtaining a direct measurement of the lake’s temperature, but recent measurements by a thermal camera on the rim of the crater indicate a maximum water temperature of 65-75 ° C.”