Lab Title

Physical Geography of the Big Island of Hawai’i

What is this Stage 0 About?

Those teaching physical geography have struggled with communicating the wonder and joy of our science. We want you to be fascinated by interpreting real scientific data and in the process come to appreciate Earth’s natural beauty. At the same time, we must meet lab science criteria where students understand issues like the limitations of data and how energy transfers modify Earth – while staying true to the beauty and elegance of our planet. That’s our goal.

This lab about the physical geography of Hawai’i. It covers all of the different aspects of this science to try to generate a greater understanding of how these pieces fit together to explain the environment.

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The exception is soils, which this lab does not cover. But it will in the future. The lab is divided into four stages. Stages A-C are the bulk of the lab activities. In this ‘welcome’ Stage 0, the goal rests in helping students do several things at the same time: Get used to playing the geovisualization and extracting real scientific

data from the game Get used to reading instructions in a PDF file on how to interpret and

think about a question you will answer in canvas. Then, when you have finished answering all of the questions

OFFLINE just using the PDF file and the game, then you go into canvas and answering the questions.

WARNING: DO NOT TAKE THE QUIZ IN CANVAS (or any lab quizzes on the geovisualizations) UNTIL YOU HAVE WORKED ON THIS LAB OFFLINE USING THE GAME AND INSTRUCTIONS IN THE PDF FILE.

Students who rush to take a quiz, and do not “practice” going back and forth between the PDF file and the game, DO VERY POORLY ON THE LATER STAGES THAT ARE MORE COMPLICATED.

          An important aspect of this "stage zero" assignment is for you to get in a study habit that will lead to you: spending the least amount of time learning the most; and getting the best grade.

Stage 0 Worth

The points you accumulate for correct answers count towards your grade. Incorrect answers do not hurt your grade.

STEPS IN DOING STAGE 0

STEP 1. Download the video game geovisualization

https://gamejolt.com/games/2BC_bigIslandofhawaii/469026

Please feel free to use Professor Dorn’s hints on how to avoid mistakes in purchasing and downloading the game:http://www.public.asu.edu/~atrid/112_PurchasingGames.pdf

STEP 2. Practice with playing the game. Please feel free to use Professor Dorn’s hints on how to play the geovisualizations:http://www.public.asu.edu/~atrid/112_HowPlayGames.pdf

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STEP 3. Put this PDF file on a second device (or print it out) such as on a phone or tablet) so you can access the information in this PDF file while you are playing the game easily and with minimal frustration.

STEP 4. Get out a pen/pencil and some pieces of paper – so you can take notes while you play the game and get the answers to the questions in this PDF file.

STEP 5. Go through the questions in this PDF file and the instructions. Figure out the best answer to these questions. Take notes.

STEP 6. Check your answers carefully to the questions in this PDF file, and then go into canvas and put down your answers.

STEP 1. Download the video game geovisualization Please feel free to use Professor Dorn’s hints on how to avoid mistakes in purchasing and downloading the game:http://www.public.asu.edu/~atrid/112_PurchasingGames.pdf

This is the game you will use in doing this lab. The cost was explained in the syllabus information when you registered for the class at $15 per game. https://gamejolt.com/games/2BC_bigIslandofhawaii/469026

This is what the site looks like

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STEP 2. Practice with playing the game. Please feel free to use Professor Dorn’s hints on how to play the geovisualizations:http://www.public.asu.edu/~atrid/112_HowPlayGames.pdf

THE GAME AND YOUR COMPUTER FAN/HEATING

If you are running a low-end computer with just the minimum amount of 4GB RAM, then the game will make your fan turn on and heat up for the first 5-10 minutes of play. This sometimes freaks out students.

Why does this happen? The game engine needs to create a virtual world of topography, so when your avatar runs around the game, the views can mimic reality. It involves a lot of math to make sure items in the distance are scaled so that they look like they are in the distance.

Will things calm down? Yes. Your processing will be pushed for the first 5-10 minutes, but once the game is built, the processing will slow down a lot. The fan may still stay on, to keep the computer cooled.

In this game, you have the ability to change the color displays. Step 1: the little triangle on the left side opens the menu Step 2: go to settings and click on the different settings icons to understand what they do. You’ll find the right one to change the color ramps (folded map icon). Step 3: Click on the inset map choices (dew point or rainfall) to experiment with what looks good to you. Then, change the color ramp in the terrain overlays to match. Step 4: Click Apply.

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STEP 3. Put this PDF file on a second device (either print it out, or put it on a phone or tablet) so you can access the information in this PDF file while you are playing the game easily and with minimal frustration.

WHY DO THIS? Prior students explain that having the instructions in this PDF file on the same computer as the game can be frustrating. While its possible to move back and forth between the game and other programs on your computers (see this file for how:http://www.public.asu.edu/~atrid/112_HowPlayGames.pdf ), students say its much easier to have a printout or this file on a separate device.

STEP 4. Get out a pen/pencil and some pieces of paper – so you can take notes while you play the game and get the answers to the questions in this PDF file.

WHY DO THIS? Prior students explain that it can be much easier to simply write down their observations in notes than to try to translate all of this onto a computer. Many students explain that taking notes on a printout of this PDF file (and the other PDF file instructions) tends to be the easiest and save them the most time.

STEP 6. Check your answers carefully to the questions in this PDF file, and then go into canvas and put down your answers.

WHY PRESENT STEP 6 BEFORE STEP 5? Because students tell me that the biggest mistake they made in doing these labs was rushing to click on answers and submit the answers for grading on canvas. After doing poorly on several labs when rushing, students eventually figure out that they should be checking their answers carefully. But this leads to a lot of frustration and the feeling of having wasted a lot of time.

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STEP 5. Go through the questions in this PDF file and the instructions. Figure out the best answer to these questions. Take notes.

THE REST OF THIS PDF FILE INVOLVES THIS STEP 5.

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WARNING/HEADS UP. All of the questions and answers in this PDF file will be the same that you will see in canvas. This is not the same for the rest of the stages. There are pools of questions in the other stages, and canvas will rotate them for students randomly. Thus, the PDF file for later stages will provide generalized instructions and example questions. But for Stage Zero, I want you to IGNORE CANVAS and just work on the lab using this file and the geovisualization.

QUESTION 1 (Learning about data available in the game) setup: When the game starts, spin the camera angle using your mouse so that you are looking at the avatar’s face. NOTE: it will be frustrating at first to manipulate the camera. You will use your mouse or trackpad. If the trackpad does not work well, borrow a trackball or a mouse (or use a video game controller). The idea is that your avatar has not moved, but the camera has swung around and you can see the avatar’s face.

Escape on the keyboard allows you to go between game mode and access to the menu. The little triangle on the left side opens up into the menu, and the map icon opens up to control the compass, geology key, and inset map.

YOU WILL LAND AT THE LOCATION YOU SEE BELOW IN THE GAME. I turned off all the display information (in the view below). Your first task is to move the camera angle so that you are looking at the avatar’s face with this view. [HOWEVER, YOU SHOULD NOT TURN OFF THE DISPLAYS!! YOU WILL NEED THAT INFORMATION TO ANSWER QUESTION 1.]

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Once you have the camera facing the avatar’s face, fill out the table below making observations using what you see IN YOUR GAME.

Direction camera angle is facing (it is the cardinal direction you see at the top of the outer compass ring, either North, South, East or West)

Direction that the avatar is facing (it is the cardinal direction you see at the top of the inner compass ring).Latitude, Longitude and Elevation ReadoutDew pointRainfallFind the avatar in the inset map showing a much larger area. The avatar is a symbol on this map. You can zoom in this inset map. After you find the avatar, decide what volcano the avatar is standing on. You will need to memorize the names of the big 5 volcanoes (look at the map at the start of this PDF file).

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QUESTION 1 in Canvas: When the game starts, spin the camera angle using your mouse so that you are looking at the avatar’s face. Please make note of the following information that you can see in the geovisualization using the compass, the readout of information displayed. Then, select the best answer that fits your observations. These are the choices you will see in the canvas question.

Direction camera angle is facing (it is the cardinal direction you see at the top of the outer compass ring, either North, South, East or West)

south north southeast northwest

Direction that the avatar is facing (it is the cardinal direction you see at the top of the inner compass ring).

north south northwest

southeast

Latitude, Longitude and Elevation Readout

20.0653-155.70881445 m

-155.708820.06531445 m

-155.708820.06531445 m

20.0653-155.70881445 m

Dew point 52˚ F 52˚ F 52˚ F 52˚ FRainfall 2157 mm 2157 mm 2157 mm 2157 mmFind the avatar in the inset map showing a much larger area. The avatar is a symbol on this map. You can zoom in this inset map. After you find the avatar, decide what volcano the avatar is standing on.

Mauna Loa

Kilauea Hualalai Kohala

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QUESTION 2 (Learning to Teleport, walk, jump, and study elevation differences from river valley erosion) SETUP:

Step 1: Open the menu (you might need to hit escape if you are in game play mode. Escape moves you in and out of playing the game and accessing the menu).

Step 2. Click on Fast Travel. Enter the coordinates for the Pololu Valley overlook:20.1998 -155.7382Make sure you hit the paper airplane button (or you could also hit the helicopter button to fly there). This puts you at the location of the Polulu Valley overlook.

Step 3. Look at what this spot looks like in the visual world. There are two links below. You do not have to do this, but I think it will give you a better sense of this place.

This is Google Street Views, where you can walk down the trail into the Pololu Valleyhttp://links.asu.edu/112Hawaii_Stage0_PololuTrail

This is a youtube of drone footage:http://links.asu.edu/112Hawaii_Stage0_PololuDrone

Step 4: Go back into the game and note the elevation of where you are standing and the isohyet (rainfall) amount. I you teleported to this spot, you should be at 215 m elevation and a mean annual rainfall of 2149 mm (about 85 inches).

Step 5: Hit escape to move out of game mode and into play mode. Use the arrow key on your keyboard to move forward and the other arrows to move in different directions. Hop down into the bottom of the valley (space bar makes your avatar jump) and put the avatar on the 2149 mm isohyet or as close to it as you can get. NOTE THE ELEVATION OF THE AVATAR AT THIS SPOT.

Step 6: Figure out the depth of the Pololu Valley at the 2149 mm isohyet. You simply subtract the elevation on the ridge to the west side and the elevation at the valley bottom:

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Step 7. Finish filling out this chart

I suggest you run and jump (you will need to practice) to go from the Pololu Valley bottom back up to the ridge on the west side. Then, run and jump your avatar to the different isohyets standing reasonably close to the edge of the valley. Note the elevations … and then when you get to 3503 mm (or close), just hop down to the bottom and measure the valley bottom elevations on the way back to the coast.

Isohyet (or as close to it as you can get)

Elevation west ridge above valley (m)

Elevation valley bottom (m)

Depth of valley (ridge – valley) m

2149 mm 215 m 35m 180 m

2823 mm

3173 mm

3503 mm

Average Depth:

Simply subtract the valley bottom elevation from the ridge elevation at the four locations (one is already done for you). Then calculate the mean (average).

QUESTION 2: What is the average depth of the Pololu River valley (the depth of river erosion into the Kohala volcano) by measuring valley depths at about the 2150 mm, 2800 mm, 3200 mm and 3500 mm isohyet locations (or as close as you can get). Select the closest answer to what you calculate (what you calculate will likely be slightly different from what we calculated, so just select the answer that is close).

YOUR CHOICES WILL BE:

280 m 320 m

360 m 410 m

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Question 3 (learn (a) Fast Travel via Helicopter (b) the usefulness of taking screenshots; and (c) also how long it takes the vegetation to re-establish itself on a lava flow, called plant succession) SETUP:

PART 1: You will observe what has happened to a 35 year old lava flow (1984 flow, 2019 image in the game) that burned down a Hawaiian rainforest, and is in the process of re-establishing itself (called succession).

Step 1: Observe a USGS scientist walking along a lava flow from the April 2, 1984 Mauna Loa eruption. The scientist stops to observe a standing wave of lava at the end. The lava flow is moving at 64 km/hr (40 mph) towards Hilo, Hawai'i. 

ASU video site:https://player.mediaamp.io/p/U8-EDC/qQivF4esrENw/embed/select/media/w5fUtJXRRkw9?form=html

or U.S. Geological Survey website:https://www.usgs.gov/media/videos/mauna-loa-lava-flow-april-2-1984

Step 2: Take a virtual walk in a rainforest (via Google Street views) and see what the lava flow looks like over 3 decades later:

http://links.asu.edu/112Hawaii_Stage0_1984MaunaLoaFlow

Step 3: Learn how to use the helicopter mode of Fast Travel to do an overflight on the Landsat Composite image acquired in 2019, 34 years later. Start by doing the regular fast travel (paper airplane) to 19.6532 -155.2448 Then, follow the steps in this screenshot of entering the destination coordinates of 19.6158 -155.3519. Then, bring up the speed of the flight and check the box. Hit the helicopter button and then close the window.

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REMEMBER TO TAKE SCREENSHOTS OF what you are seeing during the helicopter flight compare with the 2018 lava flow in Part 2. If you do not know how to use your computer to take a screenshot, DO NOT USE YOUR PHONE. You will not get a good clear look at the data or image you will need to study. Just ask youtube by clicking on either of these search links: On a PC:https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+take+a+screenshot+on+a+pc

On a MAC:https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+take+a+screenshot+on+a+Mac

PART 2. Observe what a lava flow looks like when it is happening and then in the Landsat image just a year after it erupted and solidified.

Step 1: Watch a video about the 2018 eruptions of Kilauea volcano. The ASU link plays faster, but you can download the video from the National Park Service website. You will find the entire video interesting, but focus on the part of the video that connects to the game location is the lava flow heading towards Kapoho Bay on June 3rd (about 3:30 minutes into the video and following).

These two Kilauea Eruption – 2018 Summary Video links are the same, but the ASU site is probably quicker. ASU video site:https://player.mediaamp.io/p/U8-EDC/qQivF4esrENw/embed/select/media/EqJW_xtT60xs?form=html

National Park Service websitehttps://www.nps.gov/audiovideo/havo/2BAB933C-1DD8-B71B-0B382F87B9E61717/havo-VolcanoUpdateFinal11_640x360.mp4

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Step 2: Travel to the ground to look at the lava flow via Google Street Views and just look around: http://links.asu.edu/112Hawaii_Stage0_2018Kilauea

Step 3. Use the Helicopter mode of fast travel to go from the Kapoho Bay to Leilani Estates, and remember to take screenshots of what the lava flow looks like from the helicopter.Start fast travel jump: 19.4985 -154.8190 End of helicopter flight : 19.4787 -154.9067

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QUESTION 3: When a lava flow burns a rainforest, it is a wonderful chance to study how plant succession happens. Plant succession is vegetation change after a disturbance (e.g. lava flow, fire, abandoned fields). What would be the best description of the changes that you have seen from the videos, google street view, and the Landsat composite overflights in the game geovisualization? Select the best answer. These will be your choices, sorted by alphabetical order (but they will be scrambled in canvas):1984 saw a Mauna Loa lava flow rush towards Hilo from the summit of Mauna Loa. It started in the Moku‘āweoweo Caldera, erupting from fissures. However, the caldera was not the only source. Along rift zone, new fissures opened up and the lava flow imaged in the video started moving towards Hilo with top speeds of 700 feet per hour, faster than what you saw in the video. Today, the lava flow has seen a bit of vegetation re-establishment. Lichens have started to grow, along with mosses and ferns. A few isolated shrubs have also colonized the flow. In contrast, Kilauea’s 2018 eruption that flowed to Kapoho Bay exemplifies fresh lava flow textures in 2019. The original black lava flow color that is seen in the National Park Service video (mixed in with some other colors) remains mostly black (but with streets of gray) a year later in the 2019 Landsat composite image in the game. The Google Street view image provides evidence of a landscape barren of the re-establishment of vegetation.

Kilauea’s 2018 eruption that flowed to Kapoho Bay exemplifies fresh lava flow textures in 2019. The original black lava flow color that is seen in the National Park Service video (mixed in with some other colors) remains mostly black (but with streets of gray) a year later in the 2019 Landsat composite image in the game. The Google Street view image provides evidence of a landscape barren of the re-establishment of vegetation. In contrast, the Mauna Loa 1984 lava flow that moved through a similar rainforest has experienced growth of some trees and abundant shrubs in the Google Street view scene. This overgrowth includes rock-covering organisms such as lichens and mosses. 35 years later, the Landsat composite scene in the game overflight shows a lava flow that is best described as having a brown color. This contrasts with the dark green rainforest to the sides of the lava flow.

None of the other descriptions are even remotely close to what I observed in the videos, in Google Street view, or in the game geovisualization.

The 1984 Mauna Loa lava flow rushed towards Hilo from the summit of Mauna Loa. It started in the Moku‘āweoweo Caldera, erupting from fissures. However, the caldera was not the only source. Along rift zone, new fissures opened up and the lava flow imaged in the video started moving towards Hilo with top speeds of 700 feet per hour, faster than what you saw in the video. Today, the lava flow is still quite fresh. It maintains its original black coloration typical of basalt flows. Pioneering succession species like lichens and ferns have colonized low-lying depressions where the water can collect and decay the basalt minerals enough to build up a shallow soil color. Kilauea’s 2019 eruption that flowed to Kapoho Bay is in many ways very similar in appearance to Mauna Loa’s 1984 flow. It just takes more than 35 years to decay a hard rock like basalt to the point where soils can develop and vegetation can re-establish itself.

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QUESTION 4 (Practice (a) Fast Travel via Helicopter (b) understand caldera formation (c) measure caldera depths) Setup:

STEP 1: Watch a video of the summit caldera of Kilauea. You can watch the same video using either of these sites:

ASU video site:https://player.mediaamp.io/p/U8-EDC/qQivF4esrENw/embed/select/media/3V6e_RXIXEhZ?form=html

U.S. Geological Survey websitehttps://www.usgs.gov/media/videos/k-lauea-summit

Limited UAS flights into this hazardous area are conducted with permission and coordination with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park by the U.S. Geological Suvey. Scientists examine the UAS data in detail to understand how the Kilauea summit is collapsing. Calderas collapse when the volcanic magma underneath erupts (typically from fissures on the side). When there’s less magma underneath the summit, the collapse area is evolving and these drones lights help understand the collapse process.

Center of the view ends: 19.4171 -155.2876

STEP 2: Watch a video made by a helicopter overflight of the Mauna Loa Summit. You can watch the same video using either of these sites.

ASU video site:https://player.mediaamp.io/p/U8-EDC/qQivF4esrENw/embed/select/media/B5jirBmDQiCW?form=html

U.S. Geological Survey websitehttps://www.usgs.gov/media/videos/routine-overflight-mauna-loa-summit

The flight starts at a pit crater made by a tube-shaped collapse. Then, it shows the Moku‘āweoweo caldera at the summit of Mauna Loa. It ends at another pit crater on the other end of the caldera.

STEP 3: In the geovisualization, use the helicopter mode to fly over each of the calderas. Kilauea Caldera Drone view starts: 19.4200 -155.2887 and just try using the Fast Travel inset window to fly to the other side of the Caldera. Mauna Loa helicopter flight starts at 19.4903 -155.5760and you can program the flight to go to the end point at 19.4497 -155.9034

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You can also jump straight to these calderas clicking the button in the Fast Travel Menu:

Step 4: While you are at both of these calderas in the geovisualization, measure the following things. You will have to “walk and jump” the avatar around to find the highest and lowest elevations on the rim and inside the caldera. Measure the precipitation and dew point at the deepest depth you find in the caldera.

Highest elevation on the caldera rim

Lowest elevation inside the caldera

Maximum depth of caldera (highest – lowest)

Mean Annual Precipitation in mm

Dew point in ˚F

Mauna Loa CalderaKilauea Caldera HINT #1: Lowest elevation in Mauna Loa caldera us in the Northeast Pit Crater where the helicopter flight view endsHINT #2: Highest elevation on rim of Kilauea Caldera where the Kilauea Drone Starts

Question 4: What are the depths of the Mauna Loa and Kilauea summit calderas? Which caldera setting experiences the most rainfall, and by how much? Which caldera has the lowest dew point and by how much? YOUR CHOICES:Mauna Loa caldera depth 240 m; Kilauea caldera depth 240 m; Kilauea receives 3 times the mean annual precipitation of Mauna Loa’s caldera and its dew point is 43˚F higher

Mauna Loa caldera depth 440 m; Kilauea caldera depth 240 m; Kilauea receives 5 times the mean annual precipitation of Mauna Loa’s caldera and its dew point is 4-5 times lower

Mauna Loa caldera depth 440 m; Kilauea caldera depth 840 m; Kilauea receives 5 times the mean annual precipitation of Mauna Loa’s caldera and its dew point is 3 times higher

Mauna Loa caldera depth 240 m; Kilauea caldera depth 440 m; Kilauea receives 3 times the mean annual precipitation of Mauna Loa’s caldera and its dew point is 43˚F lower

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QUESTION 5 (on dew point and the idea of gradients) Setup:

DEW POINT AND HUMIDITY: Humidity is a big topic in physical geography, and dew point is an important measure of humidity. It is the temperature where water changes from the gaseous (water vapor) state to liquid state. When the air temperature lowers to the dew point, liquid water condenses. This can be dew on a blade grass, liquid water on the outside of a cold soda can, or clouds beginning to form.

DEW POINT and the Trade Wind Inversion in Hawaii

An important topic in physical geography is the Hadley Cell, illustrated below. This is where the trade winds flow towards the equator (intertropical convergence zone) from the subtropical high. The return air occurs in the upper atmosphere, where air descends to different elevations. The descending air reaches the surface at the subtropical high. However, in Hawaii, the dry upper atmosphere air only makes it the trade wind inversion at about 2200 m.

This is a close up view of what the atmosphere looks like on the east-facing side of the Big Island. The trade winds bring very moist warm air from the east below 2200 m. Above 2200 m (the trade wind inversion), the air flow is complicated, and the air is much drier.

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QUESTION 5: In the previous question, you measured the dew point at the summit calderas of Kilauea and Mauna Loa. Now, fast travel to a mid-slope position of Mauna Loa at the trade wind inversion. Go to 19.3334 -155.5396 and observe the dew point. If you want to double check the dew points at the top of Mauna Loa and Kilauea, just use the buttons in the Fast Travel menu for a quick check. You should have dew points (in ˚F) and elevation (in meters) at 3 different elevations: highest being the Mauna Loa caldera; medium being the trade wind inversion; and lowest being the Kilauea caldera.

Question Part 1: What is the dew point gradient (˚F per 1000 m) between Mauna Loa’s caldera and the Trade Wind Inversion (19.3334 -155.5396)? Step 1: Subtract the elevation of the trade wind inversion from the caldera elevation where you measured the dew point in question 4. Step 2: divide the difference in dew points by the elevation difference (in thousands of meters, or kilometers) to get a gradient of ˚F/1000 m

Question Part 2: What is the dew point gradient (˚F per 1000 m) between the Trade Wind Inversion (19.3334 -155.5396) and the Kilauea caldera? Step 1: Subtract the Kilauea caldera elevation where you measured the dew point in question 4 from the elevation of the trade wind inversion. Step 2: divide the difference in dew points by the elevation difference (in thousands of meters, or kilometers) to get a gradient of ˚F/1000 m

1) The dew point gradient from Mauna Loa’s caldera to the trade wind inversion is about 0.014˚F/1000m, 2) with the gradient lowering a bit to 0.013˚F/1000 m beneath the trade wind inversion to the Kilauea caldera

1) The dew point gradient from Mauna Loa’s caldera to the trade wind inversion is about 14˚F/1000m, 2) with the gradient lowering a bit to 12.8˚F/1000 m beneath the trade wind inversion to the Kilauea caldera

1) The dew point gradient from Mauna Loa’s caldera to the trade wind inversion is about 1.4˚F/1000m, 2) with the gradient lowering a bit to 1.3˚F/1000 m beneath the trade wind inversion to the Kilauea caldera

1) The dew point gradient from Mauna Loa’s caldera to the trade wind inversion is about 140˚F/km, 2) with the gradient lowering a bit to 128˚F/km beneath the trade wind inversion to the Kilauea caldera

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