PDFAbstract: Emissions of air pollutants from the road traffic are still a major problem in Germany. It is well known that traffic induced fine particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5, PM1), ultrafine particles (UFPs) and gaseous air pollutants, like e.g. NOx, are adverse to human health. Therefore it is important to monitor these air pollutants in the cities. In this study an octocopter UAV is used as a carrier for measurement systems for UFPs, fine particulate matter and soot. This instrumented octocopter was used for studying the vertical and horizontal variation of the air pollution plume, which originated from the traffic on a river bridge, connecting two parts of Duesseldorf in Germany. This octocopter UAV had been especially designed and built at the Duesseldorf University of Applied Sciences for measurements of air pollutants. It was featuring eight 900 W electric propeller drives and was equipped with a pixhawk flight control. Its lift off weight was about 10.5 kg. About 60 measurement flights were performed by the instrumented octocopter throughout this study. These measurement flights could clearly determine the traffic induced air pollution plume originating from the bridge. Moreover, the dispersion of UFPs within the pollution plume could be monitored with the octocopter flights.
Keywords: air pollution, octocopter, multicopter, UAV, ultrafine particles, UFP, fine particulate matter REFERENCES [1] Moussiopoulos, N., Air Quality in Cities, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 2003 [1] Moussiopoulos, N., Air Quality in Cities, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 2003 [2] Baumbach, G., Air Quality Control, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1996 [3] Pope, I., Arden, C.; Brook, R.D., Burnett, R.T., Dockery, D.W., How is Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Risk Affected by Duration and Intensity of Fine Particulate Exposure? An Integration of Epidemiologie Evidence, Air Quality and Health, 4, 5-14, 2011 [4] Dockery, D.W., Pope, C.A., Xu, X.P.,Spengler, J.D., Ware, J.H., Fay, M.E., Ferris, B.G., Speizer, F.E., An Association between Air Pollution and Mortality in 6 United States Cities, New England Jounal of Medicine, 329, 1753-1759, 1993 [5] Peters, A.; Wichmann, H. E.; Tuch, T.; Heinrich, J.; Heyder. J.:Respiratory effects are associated with the number of ultrafine particles. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 155, (1997) Nr. 4, S.1376-1383. 1997 [6] Review of evidence on health aspects of air pollution – REVIHAAP project: final technical report. Hrsg.: World Health Organization, Regional Office Europe, Kopenhagen, Dänemark, 2013 [7] Weber, S., Kuttler, W., Weber, K., Flow characteristics and particle mass and number concentration variability within a busy urban street canyon, Atmospheric Environment, 40, pp. 7565- 7578, 2006;
Cite this paper
Konradin Weber, Georg Heweling, Christian Fischer, Martin Lange. (2017) The Use of an Octocopter UAV for the Determination of Air Pollutants – a Case Study of the Traffic Induced Pollution Plume Around a River Bridge in Duesseldorf, Germany. International Journal of Environmental Science, 2 , 63-66
Copyright © 2017 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0