Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder have demonstrated a new mobile, ground-based system that could scan and map atmospheric gas plumes over kilometer distances.
The system uses an eye-safe laser instrument to send light that 鈥渃ombs鈥� the air to a flying multi-copter and analyzes the colors of light absorbed along the way to identify gas signatures in near-real time.
The 鈥渃omb and copter鈥� system may be useful to scan for leaks in oil and gas fields, study the mixing of auto emissions and other gases in the boundary between听the earth鈥檚 surface and the next layer of the atmosphere, or, with planned upgrades, detect pollutants or chemical threats and their sources.
The project brings together NIST with mechanical engineering faculty Greg Rieker and Shalom Ruben as well as Dan Hesselius of , housed with the Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.
As described in Optica (link is external), researchers used the comb light to measure carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor鈥攇reenhouse gases that heat the atmosphere鈥攁long a 2-kilometer (1.24 mile) round trip path between a telescope on a NIST Boulder laboratory roof and a retroreflector mounted on a small, unmanned aircraft. The multi-copter hovered in selected spots to measure gases along a horizontal path and at various altitudes of up to 120 meters (400 feet).