(Phys.org)—A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Canada has found that using an airplane to carry emissions reading hardware over mining facilities offers a better way to measure volatile organic compounds (VOCs) being pumped into the atmosphere than methods currently in use. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes what they found when they used their flying emissions reading lab over a real oil sands surface mining facility and why they believe similar approaches should be used for other facilities around the world.