NASA scientists will soon be able to predict volcanic eruptions, monitoring how trees respond from space. Now, in a new collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, they have found that tree leaves become more lush and greener when the previously sleeping volcanic carbon dioxide penetrates the floor – an early warning that a magma cone is pushing up. Now, using satellites such as Landsat 8 and data from the recent Mission Avuelo, scientists think this biological response can be visible remotely, serving as an additional layer of early warning for eruptions in high -risk areas that currently threaten millions worldwide.
NASA uses tree green as a satellite track for early volcano eruption warnings in remote regions
According to the search for NASA LAND Science division at the AMES Research Center, Greening occurs when trees absorb volcanic carbon dioxide released as magma increases. These emissions precede sulfur dioxide and are harder to detect directly from the orbit.
Although carbon dioxide does not always seem obvious in satellite images, its downstream effects – enhanced vegetation, for example – can help reinforce existing volcanic alert systems, Volcanologist Florian Schwandner notes. It can be important because, as US geological research it saysThe country is still one of the most volcanically active.
Globally, there are about 1,350 potentially active volcanoes, many in remote or dangerous places. Gas measurement on site is expensive and dangerous, leading volcanologists such as Robert Bogue and Nicole Guinn to explore tree -based proxies.
Guinn’s study of tree leaves around Mount Etna da Sicily found a strong correlation between leaf color and underground volcanic activity. Satellites As Sentinel-2 and Earth proved to be able to capture these subtle vegetative changes, particularly in forest volcanic areas.
To confirm this method, climate scientist Josh Fisher led the NASA-Smithsonian teams in March 2025 to Panama and Costa Rica, collecting tree samples and measuring gas levels near active volcanoes. Fisher sees this interdisciplinary research as the key to the forecast of the volcano and understanding the response of long -term trees to atmospheric carbon dioxide, which will reveal future weather conditions.
The benefits of early detection of carbon dioxide were demonstrated at the 2017 rash of the Mayon volcano in the Philippines, where it allowed mass evacuations and saved more than 56,000 lives. It has its limitations, such as bad land or a lot of environmental noise, but it can be a watershed.