2015 Raymond Ideas Challenge
Title: Remote Sensing of Volatile Organic Compounds using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Creator: Trent Tate
Due to technology advances in remote sensing and with the advent of the small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), PID ‘EM seeks to significantly reduce the costs of monitoring industrial sites for the release of harmful gases, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), in order to prevent or lessen the environmental impact. Current methods for identifying emission sources of VOCs either involve manned aircraft using large infrared cameras or a person on the ground using a portable gas emissions monitor. Integrating a portable gas monitor with a small UAV can provide the capability to monitor emission sources much more cost effectively without the risk of exposing a person to harmful gases. PID ‘EM proposes to adapt a commercially available gas monitor for detecting VOCs, such as a photo-ionization detection (PID) device, to a small UAV and develop a protocol for surveying industrial sites. Once the PID UAV and protocol have been developed and tested, TAGUS will be able to offer to their services and PID UAVs to a variety of environmental agencies, municipalities, and industrial companies, for monitoring gas emissions.