The Photo-Pneumatic CO2 Analyzer for Robotic Platforms

New atmospheric sampling technology is needed to monitor the impact of energy production by the combustion of fossil fuels. The new technologies should enable the much higher monitoring densities that are appropriate for building models of climate change, for judging attempts of urban remediation and for validation of global coverage by the CO2 satellite. We are projecting the CO2 radiosonde as a fundamental monitoring asset of the USA. It will be developed to valuable prototype form and used to make observations of the atmosphere that are validated by proven high precision detection systems deployed on fixed wing aircraft. The photo-pneumatic analyzer was developed for Phase I, and the major technological hurdles were identified and addressed. We used it for our design of the CO2 Radiosonde, conceived of its validation in both the field and laboratory and planned for further development based on MEMS root technology. Parallel programs of laboratory experimentation and field observations are planned. Certain critical elements of the analyzer technology will be optimized in the laboratory aided by computer simulations of the electro-optical performance. Replicas of the CO2 Radiosonde will be deployed on the small latex balloon and in research pods of aircraft (manned, unmanned) as the means to validate performance against proven high precision analyzer systems. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: The CO2 Radiosonde can be deployed in conjunction with the standard meteorological Radiosonde to launch the Radiosonde Utility of North America. The same photo-pneumatic CO2 analyzer can be deployed on terrestrial/oceanic towers and drifter buoys as the means to provide far higher density and less expensive, high precision observations of Earth & apos;s atmosphere/ocean than is possible with any existing instrumentations.