UAV-borne, high-bandwidth, lightweight point sensor for quantifying greenhouse gases in atmospheric strata

A method comprising:

• providing a gas sample comprising a trace-gas to a trace-gas sensor configured for transport by an aerial vehicle, wherein a sensor head houses optical cells of the trace-gas sensor;
• controlling the gas sample to have a set temperature by a thermal chamber, before the gas sample reaches the sensor head of the trace-gas sensor;
• controlling the gas sample to have a controlled pressure by a pressure regulator, before the gas sample reaches the sensor head of the trace-gas sensor;
• detecting, by the optical cells of the trace-gas sensor, trace-gas in a conditioned gas sample under the controlled temperature and the controlled pressure inside the sensor head, wherein at least one first optical cell of the optical cells is tuned to detect hydrocarbon gas species in the gas sample, wherein at least one second optical cell of the optical cells is tuned to detect non-hydrocarbon gas species in the gas sample, and wherein the at least one first optical cell and at least one second optical cell are connected either in parallel or series, and wherein the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell are at least one of:
• connected in parallel through parallel gas flow paths so that the conditioned gas sample from the gas conditioning system is divided to flow to each of the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell, respectively, and connected in series through serial gas flow paths so that the conditioned gas sample from the gas conditioning system flows to a front located optical cell of the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell and then the conditioned gas sample from the front located optical cell flows to a next located optical cell of the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell;
• recording, by a processor having addressable memory, data corresponding to the detected trace-gas from at least one of:
• an ambient temperature, an ambient pressure, an aerial vehicle telemetry, and an aerial vehicle location;
• generating, by the processor, a map of trace-gas concentration data on a display based on the detected trace-gas and recorded data, wherein the map of trace-gas concentration is generated on at least one of:
• a satellite image, an aerial image, a two-dimensional color map, a two-dimensional contour map, a three-dimensional topographical surface map, and a three-dimensional topographical mesh map;
• and
• displaying, by the processor on the display, the generated map of trace-gas concentration data.

A system comprising:

• an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV);
• a trace-gas handling system configured to receive gas samples each including trace gas at different locations and supply the gas samples each including trace-gas to a trace-gas sensor;
• a thermal chamber configured to modify a temperature of the supplied trace-gas to a set temperature before the gas sample reaches a sensor head of the trace-gas sensor;
• a pressure regulator configured to modify a pressure of the supplied trace-gas to a set pressure before the gas sample reaches the sensor head of the trace-gas sensor;
• a sensor head;
• a plurality of optical cells of the trace-gas sensor housed in the sensor head, wherein the optical cells are configured to receive a conditioned gas sample from the thermal chamber and the pressure regulator, wherein the optical cells are configured to detect trace-gas in the conditioned gas sample under the controlled temperature and the controlled pressure inside the sensor head, wherein the trace-gas sensor is configured for transport by the UAV, wherein at least one first optical cell of the optical cells is tuned to detect hydrocarbon gas species in the gas sample, wherein at least one second optical cell of the optical cells is tuned to detect non-hydrocarbon gas species in the gas sample, and wherein the at least one first optical cell and at least one second optical cell are connected either in parallel or series, and wherein the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell are at least one of:
• connected in parallel through parallel gas flow paths so that the conditioned gas sample from the gas conditioning system is divided to flow to each of the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell, respectively, and connected in series through serial gas flow paths so that the conditioned gas sample from the gas conditioning system flows to a front located optical cell of the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell and then the conditioned gas sample from the front located optical cell flows to a next located optical cell of the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell;
• and
• a processor having addressable memory, the processor configured to:
• detect trace-gas from the optical cells of the trace-gas sensor, wherein the detected trace-gas is one or more of:
• methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, water, ammonia, sulfur oxides, and nitrogen;
• record data corresponding to the detected trace-gas, wherein the recorded data comprises at least one of:
• an ambient temperature from a temperature sensor, an ambient pressure from a pressure sensor, an aerial vehicle telemetry, and an aerial vehicle location from a global positioning system (GPS);
• actively adjust at least one operating parameter of the trace-gas sensor based on the recorded data;
• generate a map of trace-gas concentration based on the detected trace-gas and the recorded data, wherein the map of trace-gas concentration is generated on at least one of:
• a satellite image, an aerial image, a two-dimensional color map, a two-dimensional contour map, a three-dimensional topographical surface map, and a three-dimensional topographical mesh map;
• and
• display the generated map of trace-gas concentration on the display.