Air pollution is a monumental problem in today’s day and age, wherein global warming and climate change are some of its seemingly inevitable and destructive consequences. Autonomous drone technology promises to prevent those outcomes by monitoring and, eventually, abating air pollution.
For several years now, air pollution levels have increased dramatically across the world. As we know, air pollution is dragging us closer and closer towards extreme global warming and other earth-altering consequences. It is hard to overstate the adverse impact of air pollution on the beautiful environment that surrounds us. Apart from the environment, air pollution could adversely affect our own health in many ways.
Surprisingly, robotics is one of the technologies that can come to the earth’s rescue and protect it—up to a certain extent—from extreme air pollution impacts. From a conceptual point of view, autonomous drones show some promise in this regard. Here, we will see how aerial technology can fight air pollution in the future.
Air Pollution Monitoring
Air pollution monitoring carried out through the devices and systems present at the ground level is ineffective as such systems cannot monitor the air quality at greater heights or over vast areas. Autonomous drones offer a completely different way of monitoring air quality as compared to such stationary systems found in urban areas. Autonomous drones traverse vast distances and can carry out the task of air quality monitoring from high altitudes. As a result, such systems can be used to conduct the air quality analysis of entire cities.
Modern and futuristic drone projects can monitor a type of air pollution known as PM 2.5, which includes incredibly tiny matter that possesses the capabilities of sneaking into the bloodstream after being inhaled by a person. Such pollutants can cause long-term heart and lung-related ailments. As we know, diseases such as lung cancer and heart cancer lead to the death of thousands of people worldwide every year.
Air Pollution Abating
In a recently published research paper, the creation and implementation of specialized ‘environmental drones’ are explained with admirable clarity and purpose. In the paper, it is specified that the environmental drone possesses the ability to closely monitor the pollutant concentration levels in the air while hovering over a given area. If the drone detects that the levels are above pre-defined acceptable standards, it disperses an onboard pollution abatement solution to counter that pollutant present in the area. The volume of solution released is directly proportional to the volume of the pollutant detected.
This radical method can ensure that the drones bring the air pollution levels in each area to acceptable levels by continuous air quality monitoring. The onboard solutions will contain mostly harmless gases and liquids that will be used to counter harmful pollutants such as Nitrogen Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Ammonia and Sulphur Dioxide.
While many of these autonomous drone systems are still in the concept stage, they can become powerful tools in the future to prevent many avoidable deaths and environmental damage at the hands of hazardous air pollutants.
