Design and Implementation of an unmanned aerial vehicle based urban air quality monitoring system

Abstract

Air quality monitoring is increasingly becoming an issue of utmost importance in our society. This is due to the growing air pollution concerns and related respiratory illnesses caused by the air pollutants as well as the need to meet the World Health Organization air quality goals and standards. The study described in this report entailed designing and implementing an air quality monitoring system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle. The objectives were to; develop a graphical user interface for the display and analysis of the air quality data, implement a real-time data logging feature for data storage and retrieval and implement a portable mobile air pollution detection system. Using JavaScript programming language and following the Rapid Application development procedures, the graphical user interface was developed. To achieve the real-time data logging feature, an open-source software known as Adafruit IO alongside the python programming language was employed. The portable air pollution detection system was assembled using a raspberry pi 3B, an SDS011 particulate matter sensor, a modem, and an SD Card. The key results of this study were a mobile air pollution detection system made of lightweight materials that can effectively operate in the UAV, a real-time data repository system that logs and stores air quality data collected by the detection system in the UAV, and a graphical User Interface that displays the collected and stored data, along with the air quality index. With air pollution increasingly becoming a concern mostly in Urban areas, providing systems that can effectively monitor the levels of pollution and provide accurate air quality data has become very essential as it informs and tests the procedures and measures that can be taken to curb air pollution. UAV-based air quality monitoring provides better data precision as it enhances the temporal and spatial resolutions of the process.