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We report in-plume carbon dioxide (CO 2) concentrations and carbon isotope ratios during the 2021 eruption of Tajogaite volcano, island of La Palma, Spain. CO 2 measurements inform our understanding of volcanic contributions to the global climate carbon cycle and the role of CO 2 in eruptions. Traditional ground-based methods of CO 2 collection are difficult and dangerous, and as a result only about 5 % of volcanoes have been directly surveyed. We demonstrate that unpiloted aerial system (UAS) surveys allow for fast and relatively safe measurements. Using CO 2 concentration profiles we estimate the total flux during several measurements in November 2021 to be 1.76±0.20×103 to 2.23±0.26×104 t d -1. Carbon isotope ratios of plume CO 2 indicate a deep magmatic source, consistent with the intensity of the eruption. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of UASs for CO 2 surveys during active volcanic eruptions, particularly for deriving rapid emission estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report CO2 emission rates and plume δ13C during the July 2023 eruption at Litli Hrútur in the Fagradalsfjall region of the Reykjanes Peninsula. The CO2 emission rates were measured by UAV utilizing a new method of data extrapolation that enables obtaining rapid flux results of dynamic eruption plumes. The δ13C values are consistent with degassing-induced isotopic fractionation of the magma during and after the eruption. Our results show that rapid, real-time CO2 flux measurements coupled with isotopic values of samples collected at the same time provide key insights into the dynamics of volcanic eruptions and have the potential of forecasting the termination of activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report in-plume carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and isotope ratios during an active eruption of the Tajogaite Volcano. CO2 measurements inform our understanding of volcanic contributions to the global climate carbon cycle, and the role of CO2 in eruptions. Traditional ground-based methods of CO2 collection are difficult and dangerous, as a result only 5% of volcanoes have been surveyed. We demonstrate that Unpiloted Aerial System (UAS) surveys allow for fast and relatively safe measurements. Using CO2 concentration profiles we estimate total flux to be 1.19x106 to 2.80x107 t day-1. Isotope ratios indicated a deep magmatic source, consistent with the intensity of the eruption. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of UASs for CO2 surveys during active volcanic eruptions, particularly in calculating plume characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present methods for autonomous collaborative surveying of volcanic CO2 emissions using aerial robots. CO2 is a useful predictor of volcanic eruptions and an influential greenhouse gas. However, current CO2 mapping methods are hazardous and inefficient, as a result, only a small fraction of CO2 emitting volcanoes have been surveyed. We develop algorithms and a platform to measure volcanic CO2 emissions. The Dragonfly Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platform is capable of long-duration CO2 collection flights in harsh environments. We implement two survey algorithms on teams of Dragonfly robots and demonstrate that they effectively map gas emissions and locate the highest gas concentrations. Our experiments culminate in a successful field test of collaborative rasterization and gradient descent algorithms in a challenging real-world environment at the edge of the Valles Caldera supervolcano. Both algorithms treat multiple flocking UAVs as a distributed flexible instrument. Simultaneous sensing in multiple UAVs gives scientists greater confidence in estimates of gas concentrations and the locations of sources of those emissions. These methods are also applicable to a range of other airborne concentration mapping tasks, such as pipeline leak detection and contaminant localization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]