Taal Volcano Main Crater Lake (MCL) Water Sampling - October 2022

On 12 October 2022, researchers from the DOST-PHIVOLCS conducted an experiment on the use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) to collect water samples from the Taal Volcano Main Crater Lake (MCL). The RPA used by the team was a quadcopter with an attachment (developed by Terada et al., 2018) for water sampling.
Since there is active churning of the waters within the MCL, the samples collected were observed to be well-mixed and sediment-rich. From preliminary geochemical analysis, the entire MCL waters remain highly acidic.
The methodology employed in this experiment will be used in the future as a safer way to collect water samples from the MCL, especially during periods of high volcanic unrest.
Reference:
Terada, et al. (2018). Water sampling using a drone at Yugama crater lake, Kusatsu-Shirane volcano, Japan.
Earth, Planets and Space 70:64. doi.org/10.118...
Additional satellite imagery from Google Earth Pro; Music from Bensound.com
For volcano updates, visit: www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph