This visualization uses the Heim coefficient, H/L and the release height, H to calculate L, the radial distance the flow travels. The simulation is superimposed on a satellite image of the terrain surrounding Menan Butte, a volcanic vent located in Idaho. The visualization uses slider bars and loads images. Users are encouraged to modify the code; choose a different volcanic area, load that image using google earth or google maps, recalculate the appropriate scale.
Adjust the parameters H (height) and H/L (Heim coefficient) to recalculate L, the run-out distance of a pyroclastic flow. The red circle shows the map area inundated by the flow. The red area actually represents the base of a 3D cone, with the apex located at the release height above the vent location (small white circle). This simulation is simplified to run in your web-browser and assumes the ground surrounding the volcanic vent is flat.
The map shows Menan Buttes, a set of young tuff rings located on the eastern Snake River Plain in Idaho. The Menan Buttes formed by phreatomagmatic eruptions along a river drainage. The town located in the East (right) part of the image is Rexburg, ID. Menan Buttes is very unlikely to erupt again, but this simulation can be used to show the area inundated by pyroclastic surges at the time of their formation.