She and her team flew these drones while they were standing inside the crater to compare faraway atmospheric measurements with those closer to the source. They also used traditional ground-based sampling techniques to collect CO2 directly from the volcano’s gas vents.
With their drone data, the researchers found concentrations that were 23 percent higher than usual atmospheric levels, indicating that—despite measuring far from the source—the samples contained enough volcanic CO2 that they could distinguish it in the data. After accounting for dilution, they confirmed that the amount matched their ground samples, showing that drones can work in place of in-person collecting.
The team also measured how much of the CO2 was
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