If you want to capture close-up video of a volcano erupting, you better be prepared to risk your life. Unless, of course, you have a drone.
The folks at drone company DJI recently took a trek to Iceland to capture the massive Bardarbunga Volcano erupting, and the footage is nothing short of amazing.
The team used Phantom 2 quadcopter drones with GoPro cameras attached, and DJI's Lightbridge wireless high-definition remote video system to capture an exploding magma caldera, which would be too dangerous to approach with a traditional manned aircraft.
Their journey to the volcano was an adventure in itself. The team, including Director of Aerial Imaging Eric Cheng, flew to Iceland's capital of Reykjavík, and then drove 12 hours into the remote wilderness before stopping at a cabin for the night. The next morning brought another three-hour drive on rough, unpaved roads before the team finally arrived at the eruption site in Holuhraun.
"We weren't allowed to actually drive very close to the volcano, which presented another problem, which was range," Cheng said. "We flew anyway."
The Lighbridge system worked well, and the team had enough visibility to position the camera to successfully capture views of molten lava erupting from inside the caldera's rim. At one point, they flew so close to the lava that their GoPro camera completely melted. Fortunately, the memory card was not damaged.
"The fact that you can take a $1,000 flying camera and put it in the middle of an erupting volcano to capture wide-angle views of this giant pool of molten lava… is pretty amazing," Cheng said.
Check out the epic footage below for yourself, and some other amazing aerial drone videos in the slideshow above.