Atmospheric Sampling on Ascension Island Using Multirotor UAVs.
Atmospheric Sampling on Ascension Island Using Multirotor UAVs.
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DOI：
10.3390/s17061189
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发表时间：
2017-05-23
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Nisbet EG
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Greatwood C;Richardson TS;Freer J;Thomas RM;MacKenzie AR;Brownlow R;Lowry D;Fisher RE;Nisbet EG
作为NERC资助的一个调查南部甲烷异常的项目的一部分，一个来自布里斯托尔大学、伯明翰大学和皇家霍洛韦大学的团队从阿森松岛飞行了小型无人驾驶多旋翼飞机，用于大气采样。这些飞行的目的是从一个持久的大气特征--贸易风逆温--的下方、内部和上方收集空气样本，以确定甲烷浓度及其同位素组成。这些参数允许不同气团中的甲烷被绑定到不同的来源位置，这可以使用反轨迹大气计算机模拟来进一步分析。本文从整体上描述了这些活动，包括定制的八旋翼飞机的设计，以及在飞行时间不到20分钟的情况下，在地面以上2.5公里范围内收集目标多个空气样本所需的操作要求。所描述的系统的主要特征包括温度和湿度的实时反馈以及系统健康数据。这使得空气采样设计的详细目标能够在向下飞行任务期间实现和规划，在飞行前气象数据存在不确定性的情况下，这一能力是无价的。还概述了环境考虑因素以及为在遇到变化的风条件时快速飞行大气垂直横断面而制定的飞行计划。2014年9月和2015年7月进行了两次抽样，执行了100多次高空抽样任务。在整个过程中都提供了经验教训，包括与在阿森松岛遇到的测试环境中操作有关的经验教训。
As part of an NERC-funded project investigating the southern methane anomaly, a team drawn from the Universities of Bristol, Birmingham and Royal Holloway flew small unmanned multirotors from Ascension Island for the purposes of atmospheric sampling. The objective of these flights was to collect air samples from below, within and above a persistent atmospheric feature, the Trade Wind Inversion, in order to characterise methane concentrations and their isotopic composition. These parameters allow the methane in the different air masses to be tied to different source locations, which can be further analysed using back trajectory atmospheric computer modelling. This paper describes the campaigns as a whole including the design of the bespoke eight rotor aircraft and the operational requirements that were needed in order to collect targeted multiple air samples up to 2.5 km above the ground level in under 20 min of flight time. Key features of the system described include real-time feedback of temperature and humidity, as well as system health data. This enabled detailed targeting of the air sampling design to be realised and planned during the flight mission on the downward leg, a capability that is invaluable in the presence of uncertainty in the pre-flight meteorological data. Environmental considerations are also outlined together with the flight plans that were created in order to rapidly fly vertical transects of the atmosphere whilst encountering changing wind conditions. Two sampling campaigns were carried out in September 2014 and July 2015 with over one hundred high altitude sampling missions. Lessons learned are given throughout, including those associated with operating in the testing environment encountered on Ascension Island.