She and her team flew these drones while they were standing inside the crater to compare atmospheric data. Traditional ground-based sampling techniques were used to collect CO 2 from the volcano's gas vent.
The researchers found that the samples contained enough volcanic CO 2 that they could distinguish it in the data, even though they weren't close to the source. They confirmed that the amount matched their ground samples after accounting for dilution.
The team measured how much of the CO 2 was made up of carbon-13, a heavier version of the element, which has 13 neutrons. The data collected a week before the explosion showed a lower carbon-13 content. It suggests that carbon-13 levels may deplete shortly before eruptions and rise during quieter times, something that would be useful to track with future drones.
Benjamin Jordan is a volcanologist at Brigham Young University-Hawaii who was not involved in the work.
Robert Bogue is pictured.
D'Arcy's team lost 3 at Pos. One flew out of range and stopped responding to signals, while the other crashed into a tree. Three people were sent out to find the second, but one fell out of the sky. The equipment is cheap and easy to replace. Jordan believes that the cost of a human life is infinite. The risk is eliminated by using drones.
The insides of volcanoes are dangerous but the experience is different than any other. He makes his way into Pos about once a month. You don't feel like you belong in this place and it's a hostile environment.
He thinks that one day volcanic drones will look like something out of a sci-fi movie. We are going to learn a lot after that.
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