4 / 2019-02-02 03:25:52

Balluino: High Altitude Balloon/ Drone Based Air Pollution and PM 2.5 Monitoring System

PM2.5 Particulate Matter

Air pollution is the world’s leading cause of environmentally related deaths, and results in tremendous environmental, social and economic costs Particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (so-called PM2.5) is especially harmful to human health because they can penetrate the deeper part of the lungs. Monitoring PM pollutants concentration distribution and understanding their diffusion pattern are essential to evaluate their effects on human health and environment. Traditional PM2.5 air pollution monitoring utilizes stationary ground-mounted air pollution sensors to monitor air pollution in certain fixed locations. However, such stationary air pollution sensing lacks flexibility and can only sense air pollution on the ground surface. In this research, a balloon/drone based aerial platform for remote particulate matter pollutant monitoring is developed. It can measure PM2.5 air pollution in the air at different altitude and trace the diffusion of air pollutants. The data can be transmitted to ground station via wireless communication, and then uploaded to the cloud server. In this way, users can check data online anywhere using computers or smartphones. The proposed aerial platform can also be used for security surveillance, wildlife migration tracking, climate change monitoring, geographical survey, and other potential applications.