The picture above is the Leilani Estates eruption as seen from the ISS space station, Via Discover
The eruption that started in Leilani Estates on the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea is rapidly approaching the end of its second month, and right now, there are no signs the eruption will be ending soon. For many of us, this eruption seems unprecedented: how often do volcanoes erupt lava like this for months at a time? It turns out that it isn’t that uncommon, although in terms of the recent history of Kīlauea, this is a big event for the Hawaiian shield volcano.
So, just how big? I’ve talked a bit about the scale of the eruption before, mostly to emphasize most of the Big Island of Hawaii has not been impacted at all by this eruption. At this point, the Leilani Estates eruption has covered 9.5 km2 with new lava. Of that, over 1.5 km2 is new land added to the island in the former site of Kapoho Bay (see map below). To add some context here, the whole Big Island is ~10,430 km2, so the eruption has coated ~0.09% of the island and added 0.01% to the island. Not exactly a huge amount, but it definitely feels big because of the impact the eruption has had to people living in the Leilani Estates and Vacationland area.
Now, estimate area is relatively easy. Satellite images and aerial shots from helicopters, along with geoscientists on the ground, help map out just how much of the land surface is covered with lava. However, to get a volume, you need to know something about thickness and it can be highly variable. Sometimes that variability comes from the thickness of the lava flow itself – a’a is likely a thicker flow than pahoehoe – but that can be tricky because pahoehoe flows can inflate. The thickness is also a product of the land surface the lava is flowing over, so did it pond in a depression? Or is it merely a frosting? The edges of the flow field are likely thinner as well compared to the middle.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
