Steve Zimmerman

Project Title: Development of a quadrotor-based wind and emissions measurement tool 

A limiting factor in our ability to develop and enforce effective regulations governing the widespread use of flares and other emissions sources is the inaccuracies in emissions predictions. This project overcomes this, with the goal of developing a low-cost, drone-based field measurements system to couple emissions and wind measurements. Specific emissions with harmful health and environmental impacts will be targeted such as black carbon, methane and CO2. Once these goals have been reached, operators will be able to assess the emissions of a flare or other source accurately and in real-time at the cost of only a drone flight.