Brief description - demichie/MrLavaLoba GitHub Wiki

In the code, erupted lava is itemized in parcels having an elliptical shape and prescribed volume. New parcels bud from existing ones according to a probabilistic law influenced by the local steepest slope direction and by tunable input settings.

The main inputs of the code are topography and erupted volume. There are no special requirements as for the resolution of the topography to be used as computational domain, the code was successfully tested by using DEMs ranging from 5 to 30 m in resolution. The lava supplied from the vent is itemized in parcels (or lobes). The code recombines in a single probabilistic procedure two elements:

1. the path followed downhill by the flowing lava,
2. the settling of lava parcels along the path.

A spectrum of tunable parameters determines the progression downhill of the flow (i.e. the extension of the flow path), which is obtained by iteratively positioning new lava parcels in their final, permanent position. In practice, the distribution of lava parcels over the pre-emplacement topography is obtained without tackling directly the complexity of the transport dynamics but through much simpler probabilistic rules: one giving the direction of propagation of new lobes, and one determining from where new lobes bud.