Conveying Lava Flow Hazards Through Interactive Computer Models

As part of an Information Sciences senior class project, a software package of an interactive version of the FLOWGO model was developed for the Island of Hawaii. The software is intended for use in an ongoing public outreach and hazards awareness program that educates the public about lava flow hazards on the island. The design parameters for the model allow an unsophisticated user to initiate a lava flow anywhere on the island and allow it to flow down-slope to the shoreline while displaying a timer to show the rate of advance of the flow. The user is also able to modify a range of input parameters including eruption rate, the temperature of the lava at the vent, and crystal fraction present in the lava at the source. The flow trajectories are computed using a 30 m digital elevation model for the island and the rate of advance of the flow is estimated using the average slope angle and the computed viscosity of the lava as it cools in either a channel (high heat loss) or lava tube (low heat loss). Even though the FLOWGO model is not intended to, and cannot, accurately predict the rate of advance of a tube- fed or channel-fed flow, the relative rates of flow advance for steep or flat-lying terrain convey critically important hazard information to the public: communities located on the steeply sloping western flanks of Mauna Loa may have no more than a few hours to evacuate in the face of a threatened flow from Mauna Loa's southwest rift whereas communities on the more gently sloping eastern flanks of Mauna Loa and Kilauea may have weeks to months to prepare for evacuation. Further, the model also can show the effects of loss of critical infrastructure with consequent impacts on access into and out of communities, loss of electrical supply, and communications as a result of lava flow implacement. The interactive model has been well received in an outreach setting and typically generates greater involvement by the participants than has been the case with static maps and photos and other lava flow demonstrations.