This project proposes the acquisition of a drone with specialized equipment to enable air quality measurements and airborne sampling.

Integrating air quality sensors with drones opens new frontiers in environmental research, enabling three-dimensional (3D) spatial sampling, quantification of emissions from large or complex sources, and automated localization of pollution hotspots.

This essential addition to Ghent University's research capacities is supported by an interfaculty and highly interdisciplinary research group. It will enable 3D air quality data collection at the university for the first time and support interdisciplinary research in the fields of environmental sciences, atmospheric chemistry and sustainable engineering. For example, the infrastructure will be used directly for research into nitrogen emissions from livestock farming, the origin and dynamics of ozone, detection of landmines and in research into BVOCs.