Abstract
Abstract. The Small Whiskbroom Imager for atmospheric compositioN monitorinG (SWING) is a compact remote sensing instrument dedicated to mapping trace gases from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). SWING is based on a compact visible spectrometer and a scanning mirror to collect scattered sunlight. Its weight, size, and power consumption are respectively 920 g, 27 cm × 12 cm × 8 cm, and 6 W. SWING was developed in parallel with a 2.5 m flying-wing UAV. This unmanned aircraft is electrically powered, has a typical airspeed of 100 km h−1, and can operate at a maximum altitude of 3 km. We present SWING-UAV experiments performed in Romania on 11 September 2014 during the Airborne ROmanian Measurements of Aerosols and Trace gases (AROMAT) campaign, which was dedicated to test newly developed instruments in the context of air quality satellite validation. The UAV was operated up to 700 m above ground, in the vicinity of the large power plant of Turceni (44.67∘ N, 23.41∘ E; 116 ma.s.l.). These SWING-UAV flights were coincident with another airborne experiment using the Airborne imaging differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) instrument for Measurements of Atmospheric Pollution (AirMAP), and with ground-based DOAS, lidar, and balloon-borne in situ observations. The spectra recorded during the SWING-UAV flights are analysed with the DOAS technique. This analysis reveals NO2 differential slant column densities (DSCDs) up to 13±0.6×1016 molec cm−2. These NO2 DSCDs are converted to vertical column densities (VCDs) by estimating air mass factors. The resulting NO2 VCDs are up to 4.7±0.4×1016 molec cm−2. The water vapour DSCD measurements, up to 8±0.15×1022 molec cm−2, are used to estimate a volume mixing ratio of water vapour in the boundary layer of 0.013±0.002 mol mol−1. These geophysical quantities are validated with the coincident measurements.
Highlights
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly used in civilian applications, and a large variety of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms are available as remote sensing platforms for scientific research (Watts et al, 2012)
We present Small Whiskbroom Imager for atmospheric compositioN monitorinG (SWING)-UAV experiments performed in Romania on 11 September 2014 during the Airborne ROmanian Measurements of Aerosols and Trace gases (AROMAT) campaign, which was dedicated to test newly developed instruments in the context of air quality satellite validation
The SWING instrument has been tested from a UAV during the AROMAT campaign in Romania, in September 2014
Summary
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly used in civilian applications, and a large variety of UAV platforms are available as remote sensing platforms for scientific research (Watts et al, 2012). We present a remote sensing instrument dedicated to mapping air pollutants from a small UAV. The capabilities of this new observation system are illustrated by measurements around a power plant in Turceni (Romania), in August 2014. Several remote sensing instruments have been described to quantify trace gases from traditional aircraft Those operating in the UV–visible range often use the differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) method (Platt and Stutz, 2008). Regarding the atmospheric horizontal distribution, a growing interest appeared in the last decade for nadir-looking airborne DOAS instruments able to map trace gases below the aircraft.
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