While their boiling waters are dangerous to humans, hot springs and geysers are extremely sensitive systems. Throwing objects such as coins or trash into a hot spring or geyser can destroy it. Disruptions may cause the geyser to erupt, or to collapse in on itself and not erupt again. The scientists involved in the LExEn project will use sophisticated tools that will allow them to conduct research in Yellowstone without endangering the hot springs and geysers.

One tool that may be used to study geysers in Yellowstone is Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). GPR can be used to map what lies beneath the surface without digging, drilling, or otherwise disrupting the terrain. A GPR system consists of a radio transmitter and receiver. It transmits pulses of high frequency radio waves into the ground through a transducer or antenna. How deep GPR can work depends on the frequency of the system's antenna and the composition of the soil it is penetrating. Depending on the type of material the waves hit undergound, some of the waves will be absorbed, while others will be reflected back to the GPR's receiver. The system then plots the radio signals it receives back from the ground, creating a "picture" of what lies below the surface.

Here is a sample image taken during an CMU Robotics Institute expedition to Antarctica. In this image the arrows point to an cave below the surface.