AWAS
Advanced Whole Air Sampler
WASPP: The Whole Air Sampling Pilotless Platform
The WASPP, described in our paper in Environmental Science & Technology, was developed by Elizabeth (Lizzy) Asher in our laboratory. This system is designed to take advantage of UAV technology that allows access to a region of troposphere between surface measurements and aircraft measurements (0-500 ft) with a significant payload capability. The WASPP payload weighs 6.0 kg and is comprised of an array of miniaturized canisters, onboard sensors and a computer, and is deployed on a commercial drone: the DJI Matrice 600 Pro.
Figure 1 shows the WASPP at a test launchpad in Boulder, CO. The system currently collects 8 whole air canisters per flight but has the capability to collect as many as 15. The system measures ambient temperature, relative humidity, pressure, wind speed and wind direction at 1 Hz. The flights can either be computer programmed (prescribed flight pattern) or manually controlled. The system was designed to work in concert with the TOGA systems, taking advantage of their very small sample size requirements (14 ml). More than 70 individual VOCs can be measured with each WASPP canister with a VOC dynamic measurement range capability of < 10 ppt to ~ 50 ppb.
Figure 1. Photo of Lizzy Asher preparing the WASPP for flight.