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

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