Predicting the next volcanic eruption
Volcanic eruptions can be tricky to predict. Magma stored below volcanoes contains dissolved gases, including carbon dioxide, which escape to the surface and can be sampled at different times (before, after or during) an eruption to provide clues about the next one.聽聽
But climbing into a pulsing, breathing volcano to monitor the carbon dioxide content can be dangerous. The聽聽has teamed up with researchers in Costa Rica to become one of the first in the world to successfully use drones to collect volcanic carbon dioxide.聽聽聽
The team flew two drones into the crater of Po谩s, an active volcano in Costa Rica. They measured the carbon dioxide content of gas samples they collected to monitor the level of volcanic activity. A few brave researchers also climbed into the crater to take samples from the ground to validate the drone results.聽聽 The unique patterns in the carbon isotopes revealed a change in the chemistry of carbon dioxide gases in the volcano just before a large eruption of this volcano in 2017.聽聽
鈥淔lying drones into volcanoes can be helpful聽to聽in monitoring volcanoes and forecasting eruptions, because it gives us easy access to the volcanic gases,鈥� said first author聽, PhD candidate in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 鈥淪afety is of the utmost importance here: safety of the communities living around the volcano, safety of the researchers, and respect for safe flying practices in natural and tourist areas.鈥澛犅�
聽by Fiona D鈥橝rcy, John Stix et al was published in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research聽
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