These Drone Videos Give You a Front Row Seat to Active Volcanoes

The sensor-filled drone took temperature, humidity readings and thermal data around two Guatemalan volcanoes. The drones were successfully flown at just 8 km away (roughly 5 miles) from the activity. For senior research associate Kieran Wood, the drone performed better than expected.

"Even during this initial campaign we were able to meet significant science and engineering targets," Wood said. "For example, multiple imaging flights over several days captured the rapidly changing topography of Fuego’s summit. These showed that the volcano was erupting from not just one, but two active summit vents."

The research team used a suped-up, fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle as the drone in question. The drone/RC plane combo managed to gather samples of emissions gasses otherwise undetected by previous research. The team hopes that their findings could help further volcanic research.

"This is exciting initial research for future investigations, and would not be possible without a very close collaboration between volcanology and engineering," said Matt Watson, a researcher with the Cambridge team's University of Bristol School of Earth Sciences.

They also want to improve upon current research methods in order to give residents of the area more time to evacuate to safety.

"These sensors not only help to understand emissions from volcanoes, they could also be used in the future to help alert local communities of impending eruptions – particularly if the flights can be automated," said Emma Liu, a volcanologist from Cambridge.

Via University of Cambridge