Airborne Fine-scale Mapping of Urban Meteorology using Fast-response Sensor Packs Mounted on Avian Species
Abstract
Meteorological observations in the first few tens of metres above the urban canopy layer detailing the structure of the Urban Boundary Layer (UBL) are required to improve air pollution modelling and predict impacts of weather extremes such as urban heat island events (Barlow 2014). Traverses in aircraft carrying remote sensing instruments and in-situ sensors, can be prohibitively expensive for routine use, and flying sensors on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) beyond visual line of sight is likely to remain challenging within the current air safety regulatory environment.
We present observations gathered in the UK during deployments of lightweight, robust and precise sensor packages on captive homing Pigeons (Columba livia) during short-duration urban flights. This recently developed package weighs less than 3% of the pigeon body mass and contains a fast response temperature sensor, pressure altimeter, humidity sensor, light sensor, GPS, accelerometers and gyroscopes (Fig. 1). The temperature sensor has a 5 Hz response time and a resolution of 0.2°C Development of this sensor package included assessments of sensor response time and potential contaminating bird body heat using a prototype carried on the back of trained Eagles (Thomas et al. 2018). Further tests informed an iterative miniaturization process and provided a performance envelope and operational limits of the sensor package. Packages were commercially manufactured to be carried by multiple pigeons. Multiple lateral measurements of temperature above and within the urban canopy during summer of 2018 are presented. Deployment is discussed in terms of bird handling and welfare, flight planning, release times and strategies, and synoptic meteorological conditions. The sensor allows temperature features of the order of a few metres to be measured when flying at 18 m/s. Measurements are discussed in the context of surface features in the city and the potential for collected temperature traces to act as a validation tool for 3D urban temperature field models. References - Barlow, J.F., 2014. Urban Climate 10(2): 216-240. - Thomas, R.M., et al., 2018. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 99: 499-511. Acknowledgements The Cityflocks project is funded by the UK's Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) grant NE/N003195/1.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.A31F..07T
- Keywords:
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- 0305 Aerosols and particles;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0315 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0345 Pollution: urban and regional;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE