Articles | Volume 13, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4715-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4715-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
07 Sep 2020
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 07 Sep 2020
| 07 Sep 2020
A compact QCL spectrometer for mobile, high-precision methane sensing aboard drones
Laboratory for Air Pollution/Environmental Technology, Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstraße 129, Dübendorf 8600, Switzerland
Manuel Graf
Laboratory for Air Pollution/Environmental Technology, Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstraße 129, Dübendorf 8600, Switzerland
Jonas Ravelid
Laboratory for Air Pollution/Environmental Technology, Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstraße 129, Dübendorf 8600, Switzerland
Philipp Scheidegger
Laboratory for Air Pollution/Environmental Technology, Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstraße 129, Dübendorf 8600, Switzerland
André Kupferschmid
Transport at Nanoscale Interfaces, Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstraße 129, Dübendorf 8600, Switzerland
Herbert Looser
Laboratory for Air Pollution/Environmental Technology, Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstraße 129, Dübendorf 8600, Switzerland
Randulph Paulo Morales
Laboratory for Air Pollution/Environmental Technology, Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstraße 129, Dübendorf 8600, Switzerland
Lukas Emmenegger
Laboratory for Air Pollution/Environmental Technology, Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstraße 129, Dübendorf 8600, Switzerland
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- Development of an Integrated Lightweight Multi-Rotor UAV Payload for Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Mole Fraction Measurements T. Zhao et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13060855
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- UAV-based in situ measurements of CO2 and CH4 fluxes over complex natural ecosystems A. Bolek et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5619-2024
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- Feature Domain Transform Filter for the Removal of Inherent Noise Bound to the Absorption Signal J. Sun et al. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.2c02830
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Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 27 Oct 2026
Short summary
We describe a lightweight (2 kg) mid-IR laser spectrometer for airborne, in situ atmospheric methane (CH4) measurements. The instrument, based on an open-path circular multipass cell, provides fast response (1 Hz) and sub-parts-per-billion precision. It can easily be mounted on a drone, giving access to highly resolved 4D (spatial and temporal) data. The performance was assessed during field deployments involving artificial CH4 releases and vertical concentration gradients in the PBL.
We describe a lightweight (2 kg) mid-IR laser spectrometer for airborne, in situ atmospheric...
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