ArcGIS Living Atlas

Lava Flow Direction Successfully Predicted By ArcGIS

Earlier this week I showed how we can use the Trace Downstream service in ArcGIS online to predict where lava will flow. The night after the blog was posted, some lava flowed from some of fissures in the Eastern Rift Zone downward toward the sea. The path taken by the lava flow followed the line ArcGIS had traced downstream from the fissure.

As of Friday afternoon Pacific Time, Open Street Map shows the lava flow has been following the course the new 10m trace downstream service had predicted. The flow has mostly stopped, but if it starts again and continues to the sea, it will overrun Ahalanui Park. The County of Hawaii advises us that both Isaac Hale and Ahalanui Park are closed until further notice.

About the author

Michael Dangermond has over 25 years experience in GIS in such diverse fields as cartography, agriculture, international boundary delineation, environmental protection, regional planning, park planning, land and wildlife conservation, and forestry. He has been working for ESRI since 2010.

Connect:

Next Article

What's new in ArcGIS Hub first quarter

Read this article