Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-Borne Sensor System for Atmosphere-Particulate-Matter Measurements: Design and Experiments

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) particulate-matter (PM) monitoring system was developed that can perform three-dimensional stereoscopic observation of PM2.5 and PM10 in the atmosphere. The UAV monitoring system was mainly integrated by modules of data acquisition and processing, wireless data transmission, and global positioning system (GPS). Particularly, in this study, a ground measurement-control subsystem was added that can display and store collected data in real time and set up measurement scenarios, data-storage modes, and system sampling frequency as needed. The UAV PM monitoring system was calibrated via comparison with a national air-quality monitoring station; the data of both systems were highly correlated. Since rotation of the UAV propeller affects measured PM concentration, this study specifically tested this effect by setting up another identical monitoring system fixed at a tower as reference. The UAV systems worked simultaneously to collect data for comparison. A correction method for the propeller disturbance was proposed. Averaged relative errors for the PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations measured by the two systems were 6.2% and 6.6%, respectively, implying that the UAV system could be used for monitoring PM in an atmosphere environment.