US 12,281,983 B2
UAV-borne, high-bandwidth, lightweight point sensor for quantifying greenhouse gases in atmospheric strata
Brendan James Smith, Lakeway, TX (US); Victor Alexander Miller, II, Sonoma, CA (US); and Andrew David Aubrey, Austin, TX (US)
Assigned to SeekOps Inc., Austin, TX (US)
Appl. No. 17/286,107
Filed by SeekOps Inc., Austin, TX (US)
PCT Filed Oct. 22, 2019, PCT No. PCT/US2019/057305
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 16, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/086499, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 30, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/748,647, filed on Oct. 22, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0382475 A1, Dec. 9, 2021
Int. Cl. G01N 21/39 (2006.01); B64U 101/00 (2023.01); G01N 21/85 (2006.01); G01N 33/00 (2006.01); B64U 10/14 (2023.01)
CPC G01N 21/39 (2013.01) [G01N 21/85 (2013.01); G01N 33/0016 (2013.01); G01N 33/0062 (2013.01); B64U 10/14 (2023.01); B64U 2101/00 (2023.01); G01N 2021/8578 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system comprising:
a trace-gas sensor configured for transport by an aerial vehicle, wherein the trace-gas sensor is configured to receive gas samples at different locations, and wherein the trace-gas sensor comprises:
a thermal chamber;
a pressure regulator;
a sensor head;
a gas conditioning system configured to receive the gas samples and control the gas samples to a specific temperature by the thermal chamber and to a set pressure by the pressure regulator, before the gas sample reaches the sensor head of the trace-gas sensor; and
a plurality of optical cells housed in the sensor head that are configured to receive a conditioned gas samples from the gas conditioning system, wherein the optical cells are configured to detect trace-gas in the conditioned gas sample under the controlled temperature and the controlled pressure inside the sensor head, wherein at least one first optical cell of the optical cells is tuned to detect hydrocarbon gas species in the conditioned gas sample, wherein at least one second optical cell of the optical cells is tuned to detect non-hydrocarbon gas species in the conditioned gas sample, wherein the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell are connected either in parallel or series, and wherein the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell are at least one of: connected in parallel through parallel gas flow paths so that the conditioned gas sample from the gas conditioning system is divided to flow to each of the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell, respectively, and connected in series through serial gas flow paths so that the conditioned gas sample from the gas conditioning system flows to a front located optical cell of the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell and then the conditioned gas sample from the front located optical cell flows to a next located optical cell of the at least one first optical cell and the at least one second optical cell; and
a processor having addressable memory, the processor configured to:
detect the trace-gas from the optical cells of the trace-gas sensor;
record data corresponding to the detected trace-gas, wherein the recorded data comprises at least one of: an ambient temperature from a temperature sensor, an ambient pressure from a pressure sensor, an aerial vehicle telemetry, and an aerial vehicle location of the aerial vehicle from a global positioning system (GPS);
generate a map of trace-gas concentration on a display based on the detected trace-gas and the recorded data, wherein the map of trace-gas concentration is generated on at least one of: a satellite image, an aerial image, a two-dimensional color map, a two-dimensional contour map, a three-dimensional topographical surface map, and a three-dimensional topographical mesh map; and
display the generated map of trace-gas concentration on the display.