Abstract
The cost of monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites is of major concern for regulatory authorities. The current monitoring procedure is recognised as labour intensive, requiring agency inspectors to physically travel to perimeter borehole wells in rough terrain and manually measure gas concentration levels with expensive hand-held instrumentation. In this article we present a cost-effective and efficient system for remotely monitoring landfill subsurface migration of methane and carbon dioxide concentration levels. Based purely on an autonomous sensing architecture, the proposed sensing platform was capable of performing complex analytical measurements in situ and successfully communicating the data remotely to a cloud database. A web tool was developed to present the sensed data to relevant stakeholders. We report our experiences in deploying such an approach in the field over a period of approximately 16 months.
Highlights
IntroductionGlobal warming is recognised as a serious worldwide challenge
The linear correlation equations generated by these calibration plots were used as inline conversions from reported analogue to digital converter (ADC) measurements by the remote systems for presenting real concentration values online
It should be noted that case of 2.88% (CO2) and CH4 were the primary sensing targets as identified by the EPA; they are accessible via IR sensors that are very reliable and as we have demonstrated, suitable for long term autonomous deployment with platforms that are relatively low cost
Summary
Global warming is recognised as a serious worldwide challenge. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fourth report states that the warming of our climate is evident and that human activities are very likely the cause through the emission of substantial amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere [1]. Chemical Sensing and Information Retrieval from the Environment. Our basic sensing capabilities are limited and only allow us to observe the aftermath of the effects that these substances cause. The ability to harvest chemical information from our environment can provide the means to enforce preventative measures and/or to provide early warning. Chemical sensing is on the increase and is very much encouraged by local and global governmental legislation, such as the
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
