Balloon/Drone-based Aerial Platforms for Remote Particulate Matter Pollutant Monitoring
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Authors
Xiong, Xingguo
Shah, Soumil
Pallis, Jani M.
Issue Date
2018-03-23
Type
Other
Language
en_US
Keywords
Air pollution , Drone , High altitude balloon , Monitoring
Alternative Title
Abstract
Air pollution is the world’s leading cause of environmentally related deaths, and results in tremendous environmental, social and economic costs. Particulate matter with diameter of 2.5 microns or less (so called PM2.5) is especially harmful for human health because they can penetrate into the deeper part of the lungs. Monitoring PM pollutants concentration distribution and understanding their diffusion pattern are essential to evaluate their effects on human health and environment. Traditional PM2.5 air pollution monitoring utilizes stationary ground-mounted air pollution sensors to monitor air pollution in certain fixed locations. However, such stationary air pollution sensing lacks flexibility and can only sense air pollution on ground surface. In this research, a balloon/drone based aerial platform for remote particulate matter pollutant monitoring is developed. It can measure PM2.5 air pollution in the air at different altitude and trace the diffusion of air pollutants. The data can be transmitted to ground station via wireless communication, and then uploaded to cloud server. In this way, users can check data online anywhere using computers or smart phones. The proposed aerial platform can also be used for security surveillance, wildlife migration tracking, climate change monitoring, geographical survey and other potential applications.