Form Submission: Participation Entry

Research Day Entry

UAV deployment for fine-scale CO2 flux estimation in cities

Madeleine O'Brien
Urban areas and the utilities that serve them generate up to 80% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions worldwide. Therefore, quantifying the magnitude and spatial variability of urban CO2 fluxes may help reduce uncertainties in a city’s emission targets and help demystify large-scale emission patterns. However, capturing flux estimation data within individual cities proves difficult using existing atmospheric science methods. This project develops and tests an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform for collecting meteorological and CO2 data using on-board, low-cost sensors within the city of New Haven, CT. I summarize the effects that instrument configuration and calibration have upon the accuracy of both in-situ measurements and subsequent CO2 flux estimates. Impacts of land cover type and time of day upon flux estimates are discussed. Lastly, I compare my urban CO2 flux estimates to those from published carbon inventories, flux towers, and other mobile sensors.