Fieldwork in contaminated waterbodies in Sweden (2023)

Fiberbanks are contaminated sediments made up of food fibre and cellulose generated as a waste product from the paper and pulp industry released directly into the water bodies in the 70s. They are a source of methane production that is hard to remediate. I had the opportunity to fly a drone rigged with a methane sensor and anemometer to calculate how much methane was generated from these contaminated water bodies in Sweden. After the winter fieldwork, working in temperatures 50° higher was a nice change of pace. Still, it is nerve-wracking to fly a drone a meter above water!