Mobile Greenhouse Gas Flux Analyzer for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

In this SBIR Phase I effort, Los Gatos Research (LGR) proposes to develop a highly-accurate, lightweight, low-power gas analyzer for eddy flux covariance measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O) aboard unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This analyzer will be the first sensor capable of meeting the stringent speed, weight, power, and environmental requirements for unmanned airborne flux measurements. Airborne eddy flux covariance measurements enable regional-scale investigations of carbon sources and sinks as well as measurements in areas where conventional tower flux deployments are infeasible. These data complement current satellite observations by providing higher horizontal resolution and vertical profiling, enabling better quantification of carbon sources and sinks. Such deployments are critically important to NASA's Earth Science Division, because they enable more efficient and cost-effective Earth observations.