Volcano monitor
Drones help research eruptions in Sicily and reduce risk to humans
'Reliable data'
"We have a very constant output of gas …so we can have very reliable sensor data," said Krajewski.
For Tjarda Roberts, a researcher at the National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris, one of the biggest advantages of the drone is its flexibility to move around more diluted parts of the plume and quickly switch direction if the plume suddenly changes angles.
With the drone, researchers no longer need to carefully enter the area of the gas emissions, a dangerous activity that requires the use of masks and other protection.
"Here we don't have a major risk of an imminent eruption but there are volcanoes where you can't reach the summit on foot," Roberts said. But with a drone, "you can take measurements … without putting yourself in danger".
Skimming over rocks speckled with yellow sulfur crystals deposited by the fumaroles, "Tina" soon reappears on the horizon.
A new challenge awaits the drone — Mount Etna, the 3,000 meter-high active volcano in eastern Sicily, where a new eruption had just occurred in early July.
AFP
