Atlas of Maine

Article Title

Forecasting Lava Flow: Analysis of Potential Lava Flow Paths from Mauna Loa Volcano, HI

Authors

Caroline Winslow, Colby CollegeFollow
Julia Saul, Colby CollegeFollow

Abstract or Description

The island of Hawaii, located in the Hawaiian Island chain (Figure 2), is home to an active volcano, Mauna Loa, which has the potential of putting local populations at risk in the case of an eruption (Hawaii Center for Volcanology, 2015). In the last 150 years, Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times and twice, the lava flows have covered land that is now a part of Hilo, the most populated census-designated place (USGS). In areas with high population densities, lava flows are dangerous and destructive. This project aims to forecast potential lava flows in the most populated census blocks so communities can be prepared for evacuation if needed.

About the Author

Julia Saul and Caroline Winslow are both Juniors at Colby College in the Environmental Studies Program. This project was produced in the Introduction to GIS and Remote Sensing class.

Source Data Note

Data was obtained from the Hawaii Office of GIS (http://planning.hawaii.gov/gis/download-gis-data/) and Social Explorer (http://www.socialexplorer.com/).

Rights

In Copyright

Recommended Citation

Winslow, Caroline and Saul, Julia "Forecasting Lava Flow: Analysis of Potential Lava Flow Paths from Mauna Loa Volcano, HI," Atlas of Maine: Vol. 2017: No. 2, Article 9.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/atlas_docs/vol2017/iss2/9