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Image of area around flow front

Detailed Description

This map uses a satellite image acquired in March 2014 (provided by Digital Globe) as a base to show the area around the front of the June 27th lava flow. The area of the flow on October 30, 2014, at 12:00 PM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on October 31 at 12:25 PM is shown in red. The latitude and longitude of the front of the narrow finger of lava advancing toward Pāhoa was 19.49590, -154.95256 (Decimal Degrees; WGS84). The dotted blue lines show steepest-descent paths in the area, calculated from a 1983 digital elevation model (DEM).

The flow has not advanced during the last 24 hours. At the time of mapping, the tip of the flow was stalled, but a few tiny oozing breakouts were active just upslope from the front. The tip of the flow was 155 meters (170 yards) from Pāhoa Village Road.

Surface activity also continues elsewhere on the flow. A new breakout occurred along the north margin of the flow downslope from Pāhoa cemetery. The breakout was moving downslope along the north margin of the flow, and was active as of 12:25 PM. Another breakout was active along the north margin of the flow just above AP‘A‘ā Street, near the transfer station, and heading in a northwest direction.

Steepest-descent path analysis is based on the assumption that the DEM perfectly represents the earth's surface. DEMs, however, are not perfect, so the dotted blue lines can be used to infer only approximate flow paths. For calculation details, see http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1264/.