Articles | Volume 11, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1833-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1833-2018
Research article
 | 
29 Mar 2018
Research article |  | 29 Mar 2018

COCAP: a carbon dioxide analyser for small unmanned aircraft systems

Martin Kunz, Jost V. Lavric, Christoph Gerbig, Pieter Tans, Don Neff, Christine Hummelgård, Hans Martin, Henrik Rödjegård, Burkhard Wrenger, and Martin Heimann

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Short summary
Unmanned aircraft could provide a cost-effective way to close gaps in the observation of the carbon cycle, provided that small yet accurate analysers are available. We have developed a COmpact Carbon dioxide analyser for Airborne Platforms (COCAP). During validation of its CO2 measurements in simulated and real flights we found a measurement error of 1.2 μmol mol−1 or better with no indication of bias. COCAP is a self-contained package that has proven well suited for operation on board UASs.
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