Atmosphere
MesSBAR—Multicopter and Instrumentation for Air Quality Research
Lutz
Bretschneider,
Andreas
Schlerf,
Anja
Baum,
Henning
Bohlius,
Marcel
Buchholz,
Sebastian
Düsing,
Volker
Ebert,
Hassnae
Erraji,
Paul
Frost,
Ralf
Käthner,
Thomas
Krüger,
Anne Caroline
Lange,
Marcel
Langner,
Andreas
Nowak,
Falk
Pätzold,
Julian
Rüdiger,
Jorge
Saturno,
Hendrik
Scholz,
Tobias
Schuldt,
Rickmar
Seldschopf,
Andre
Sobotta,
Ralf
Tillmann,
Birgit
Wehner,
Christian
Wesolek,
Katharina
Wolf,
Astrid
Lampert
#UAS
#ozone
#aerosol
#NOx
#black carbon
#drone
#air quality
#multicopter
Air quality measurements usually consist of ground-based instrumentation at fixed locations. However, vertical profiles of pollutants are of interest for understanding processes, distribution, dilution and concentration. Therefore, a multicopter system has been developed to investigate the vertical distribution of the concentration of aerosol particles, black carbon, ozone, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide and the meteorological parameters of temperature and humidity. This article presents the requirements by different users, the setup of the quadrocopter system, the instrumentation and the results of first applications. The vertical distribution of particulate matter next to a highway was strongly related to atmospheric stratification, with different concentrations below and above the temperature inversion present in the morning. After the qualification phase described in this article, two identically equipped multicopters will be used upwind and downwind of line or diffuse sources such as highways or urban areas to quantify the influence of their emissions on the local air quality.