Characterization of a Quadrotor Unmanned Aircraft System for Aerosol-Particle-Concentration Measurements

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• 作者：James M. Brady ; M. Dale Stokes ; Jim Bonnardel ; Timothy H. Bertram
• 刊名：Environmental Science & Technology
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：February 2, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：50
• 期：3
• 页码：1376-1383
• 全文大小：383K
• ISSN：1520-5851

文摘

High-spatial-resolution, near-surface vertical profiling of atmospheric chemical composition is currently limited by the availability of experimental platforms that can sample in constrained environments. As a result, measurements of near-surface gradients in trace gas and aerosol particle concentrations have been limited to studies conducted from fixed location towers or tethered balloons. Here, we explore the utility of a quadrotor unmanned aircraft system (UAS) as a sampling platform to measure vertical and horizontal concentration gradients of trace gases and aerosol particles at high spatial resolution (1 m) within the mixed layer (0–100 m). A 3D Robotics Iris+ autonomous quadrotor UAS was outfitted with a sensor package consisting of a two-channel aerosol optical particle counter and a CO₂ sensor. The UAS demonstrated high precision in both vertical (±0.5 m) and horizontal positions (±1 m), highlighting the potential utility of quadrotor UAS drones for aerosol- and trace-gas measurements within complex terrain, such as the urban environment, forest canopies, and above difficult-to-access areas such as breaking surf. Vertical profiles of aerosol particle number concentrations, acquired from flights conducted along the California coastline, were used to constrain sea-spray aerosol-emission rates from coastal wave breaking.