NASA’s unmanned aircraft surveys volcano

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The Watchers - April 5, 2013 - by NIXTo improve understanding of volcanoes, researchers need to gather data about volcanic ash and gases. However, volcanic airspace contains noxious gases that can be dangerous for researchers as well as conventional combustion engines. Considering the nature and magnitude of risk, unmanned areal vehicles (UAVs) having electric engines that ingest little contaminated air, are ideal for such surveys. Last month a team of researchers from NASA used three re-purposed military UAVs equipped with special instruments to study the noxious sulfur dioxide plume of Costa Rica’s active Turrialba volcano, near San Jose. Between March 11 and 14, the research team lad by David Pieri of...
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To improve understanding of volcanoes, researchers need to gather data about volcanic ash and gases. However, volcanic airspace contains noxious gases that can be dangerous for researchers as well as conventional combustion engines. Considering the nature and magnitude of risk, unmanned areal vehicles (UAVs) having electric engines that ingest little contaminated air, are ideal for such surveys. Last month a team of researchers from NASA used three re-purposed military UAVs equipped with special instruments to study the noxious sulfur dioxide plume of Costa Rica’s active Turrialba volcano, near San Jose.

Between March 11 and 14, the research team lad by David Pieri of JPL, launched 10 flights of the remote-controlled UAVs into the volcanic plume and above the rim of Turrialba’s 10,500-foot (3,200-meter) summit crater. During the flights, the team coordinated its data gathering with NASA’s Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA’s Terra spacecraft, allowing scientists to compare sulfur dioxide concentration measurements from the satellite with measurements taken from within the plume. Pieri said,

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