Composition of gases emitted by volcanoes can provide information on the possibility of imminent eruptions / Lightweight drones make investigation possible even in areas that are difficult to access.
Composition of gases emitted by volcanoes can provide information on the possibility of imminent eruptions / Lightweight drones make investigation possible even in areas that are difficult to access.
The main gases released by volcanoes are water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Analyzing these gases is one of the best ways of obtaining information on volcanic systems and the magmatic processes that are underway. The ratio of carbon dioxide levels to those of sulfur dioxide can even reveal the likelihood of an impending eruption. Drones are employed to carry the necessary analytical systems to the site of activity. However, because of their size, transporting the drones to their operation sites has to date required significant expense. A team headed by Professor Thorsten Hoffmann at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has recently been assessing the potential for using a small, portable observation drone in remote regions. This very compact drone system can even be conveyed on foot to sites that are extremely difficult to access. In addition, it requires only minimal flight and administrative preparations for operation as an aerial observation platform.
Eruptions can be Predicted on the Basis of Volcanic Outgassing
Gas discharges from volcanoes mainly consist of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Released gas emissions are among the few chemical signals that provide evidence of the processes occurring in magmatic systems that are located deep below the surface and are thus otherwise inaccessible. For some time already, researchers have assumed that the analysis of such volatile emissions could play a central role in improving the prediction of volcanic eruptions. A particularly promising parameter when it comes to the surveillance of changes to volcanic activity is the ratio of concentration of carbon dioxide to sulfur dioxide in the released gases. In fact, alterations to this ratio have been observed immediately prior to eruptions of several volcanoes, among which was Etna. Unfortunately, the practical side of compiling a continuous time series of gas compositions represents a major challenge. Direct manual sampling by means of climbing the volcano is arduous and time-consuming, not to mention the potential dangers should an eruption suddenly occur. On the other hand, stationary monitoring equipment often does not record representative data on gas compositions, mainly due to changing wind directions.
Read more at Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz
Image: The research drone in action on the island of Vulcano at the southern boundary of the Aeolian Islands (Credit: Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz)
