Abstract. A sampler for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was developed for
deployment on a multicopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The sampler was
designed to collect gas- and aerosol-phase VOCs on up to four commercially
available VOC-adsorbent cartridges for subsequent offline analysis by
thermal-desorption gas chromatography. The sampler had a mass of 0.90 kg and
dimensions of 19 cm ×20 cm ×5 cm. Power consumption was
< 10 kJ in a typical 30 min flight, representing < 3 % of
the total UAV battery capacity. Autonomous sampler operation and data
collection in flight were accomplished with a microcontroller. Sampling
flows of 100 to 400 sccm were possible, and a typical flow of 150 sccm was
used to balance VOC capture efficiency with sample volume. The overall
minimum detection limit of the analytical method for a 10 min sample was
3 ppt and the uncertainty was larger than 3 ppt or 20 % for isoprene
and monoterpenes. The sampler was mounted to a commercially available UAV
and flown in August 2017 over tropical forest in central Amazonia. Samples
were collected sequentially for 10 min each at several different
altitude–latitude–longitude collection points. The species identified, their
concentrations, their uncertainties, and the possible effects of the UAV
platform on the results are presented and discussed in the context of the
sampler design and capabilities. Finally, design challenges and
possibilities for next-generation samplers are addressed.
Abstract. A sampler for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was developed for deployment on a copter-technology unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The sampler was designed to collect VOCs on up to five commercially available VOC-adsorbent cartridges for subsequent offline analysis by thermal-desorption gas chromatography. The sampler had a mass of 0.90 kg and dimensions of 19 cm × 20 cm × 5 cm. Power consumption was <3 Wh in a typical 30 min flight, representing <3 % of the total UAV battery capacity. Autonomous sampler operation and data collection in flight were accomplished with a microcontroller. Sampling flows of 100 to 400 sccm were possible, and a typical flow of 150 sccm was used to balance VOC capture efficiency with sample volume. The overall minimum detection limit for the sampling volumes and the analytical method was close to 2 ppt for isoprene and monoterpenes. The sampler was mounted to a commercially available UAV and flown in August 2017 over tropical forest in central Amazonia. Samples were collected sequentially for 10 min each at several different altitude-latitude-longitude collection points. The species identified, their concentrations, and their uncertainties are presented and discussed in the context of the sampler design and capabilities. Finally, design challenges and possibilities for next-generation samplers are addressed.
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