Quantifying Local to Regional Emissions of Methane Using UAV-based Atmospheric Concentration Measurements

The uncertainty in methane (CH4) emissions that go into the global methane cycle is significant, and accurate atmospheric measurements and quantification of CH4 is of vital importance to reduce this uncertainty. This thesis explores the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in combination with a high accuracy methane sampling tool to measure and quantify CH4 emissions. First, a suitable instrument capable of accurate measurements of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is developed and tested. Second, using this newly developed instrumentation, a technique for quantifying methane emissions from a point source is developed. Finally, this instrumentation and technique is used to sample and quantify the regional CH4 emissions from a large industrial coal mining region. The results coming from this thesis has helped progress the use of mobile unmanned aerial vehicles for atmospheric trace gas research, and shows that quantification techniques using UAVs can be a powerful tool to make accurate measurements of CH4 and other trace gases, and further help in lowering the overall uncertainty on the atmospheric carbon cycle.