An air quality monitoring network is a fundamental tool that allows to retrieve important information in the definition of the environmental status; but all the collected data need a validation: we must check, analyze and link the measured values to the examined scenario, respecting the source-path-target model. Usually we localize a potential source of air pollution where we find a continuous gas emission and, according to local law, there we decide to put a CEM (Continuous Emission Monitoring) system/device. But the information about the chemical composition and the concentration of the air pollutants or toxins at the “starting point” is not sufficient to define their impact on the scenario; in fact, we also need to know the atmospheric dispersion model, customized and validated for the specific target zone. In this paper we show all technological details about a new advanced system for continuous emission and ambient air quality tridimensional data acquisition that permits the definition and the validation of ad-hoc atmospheric models starting from on-site grabbed data. The proposed system is distinguished by joined use of a special aerial platform (a drone multi-rotor) and advanced sensors (IR cameras HD, thick film solid state sensors, biosensors, QCM, digital HD photo/video 360°, etc.). We tested the effectiveness of our system also to support several Italian Government bodies law enforcement (e.g. Italian Coast Guard); in fact, a true estimation or prediction of the downwind concentration of emissions from sources such as industrial plants, vehicular traffic, ships in harbors, accidental chemical releases etc. is important for governmental agencies, environmental police and decision makers tasked with protecting and managing the ambient and also it assists the design of effective control strategies to reduce air pollution. First positive results of this experimentation have encouraged the development of new research programs and, today, we are finding new international cooperation agreements to have the opportunity to tune-up our systems/procedures according to international regulations and laws.

ADVANCED SYSTEM FOR CONTINUOUS EMISSION AND AMBIENT AIR QUALITY TRIDIMENSIONAL DATA ACQUISITION

LEGA, MASSIMILIANO;NAPOLI, RODOLFO MARIA ALESSANDRO;
2011-01-01

Abstract

An air quality monitoring network is a fundamental tool that allows to retrieve important information in the definition of the environmental status; but all the collected data need a validation: we must check, analyze and link the measured values to the examined scenario, respecting the source-path-target model. Usually we localize a potential source of air pollution where we find a continuous gas emission and, according to local law, there we decide to put a CEM (Continuous Emission Monitoring) system/device. But the information about the chemical composition and the concentration of the air pollutants or toxins at the “starting point” is not sufficient to define their impact on the scenario; in fact, we also need to know the atmospheric dispersion model, customized and validated for the specific target zone. In this paper we show all technological details about a new advanced system for continuous emission and ambient air quality tridimensional data acquisition that permits the definition and the validation of ad-hoc atmospheric models starting from on-site grabbed data. The proposed system is distinguished by joined use of a special aerial platform (a drone multi-rotor) and advanced sensors (IR cameras HD, thick film solid state sensors, biosensors, QCM, digital HD photo/video 360°, etc.). We tested the effectiveness of our system also to support several Italian Government bodies law enforcement (e.g. Italian Coast Guard); in fact, a true estimation or prediction of the downwind concentration of emissions from sources such as industrial plants, vehicular traffic, ships in harbors, accidental chemical releases etc. is important for governmental agencies, environmental police and decision makers tasked with protecting and managing the ambient and also it assists the design of effective control strategies to reduce air pollution. First positive results of this experimentation have encouraged the development of new research programs and, today, we are finding new international cooperation agreements to have the opportunity to tune-up our systems/procedures according to international regulations and laws.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11367/19580
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