Persistent Earth Atmospheric Monitoring System Using High-Altitude Balloons & Endurance Gliders

Principal Investigator Sergey Shkarayev is a professor in the department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and a leader of the Micro Air Vehicles Team, and also leads up this amazing project. Shkarayev has a particular interest in unmanned aerial vehicles, which lent itself well to the design of this project. 

A prototype of an Earth atmosphere monitoring system was developed and tested based on a cluster of heat-powered, high-altitude balloons and ultra-endurance gliders equipped with multiple sensors that can take the same paths as the balloons while doing more dynamic movement. The content of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxide was measured using some of these varying core science sensors. This happens at varying altitudes, creating an in-depth map of atmospheric content!

This network of aerial vehicles equipped with these core science sensors has already taken 3 major flights in Tucson (Tucson International Modelplex Park Association airfield or TIMPA), Flagstaff (Double Crater), and finally in California (Joint Interagency Field Experimentation Program or JIFX). This project is currently developing and plans to create a cohesive aerial monitoring system to read atmospheric data better using the beautiful Arizona skies as its initial testing fields!