Review Paper

Application of UAV for Environmental Monitoring

Group number:- 77

Makwana Mithil 21Bee048

Muhammad Ayaz 21Bee054

Parekh Nandish 21Bee058

Patel Akshay 21Bee061

Abstract:-

In the context of digital governance, human-made activities will have the greatest impact on
the environment.
The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) is deeper and is said to affect the way data is
retrieved from the environment. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are cost-effective
alternatives to satellites or high-altitude platform systems (HAPS) because they are more
flexible, specific, and versatile. Data collection in the context of UAV, communication relay,
and sensor networks is examined. Strategies for improving environmental law and using
collaborative drones and cyberinfrastructure security and cyber insurance for environmental
monitoring will be discussed.

Introduction:-

IoT Data Sampling and Smart Environment

Industrial Revolution 4.0 is revolutionizing our world and its future. The future holds the key
to connecting homes, offices, businesses and other aspects of the smart city concept. Over
the next few years 500 billion devices will be connected to the Internet. The use of fast and
efficient services and information distribution technology is designed to bridge the digital gap
needed today. Here, as a result of the evolution of architecture in the digital field, it must be
interactive and effective in a way that will increase the quality of life of those living in it.
Climate change and environmental sustainability play an important role in the lives of the
digital population because they affect health, work life, urban work, communication and
leadership. The greatest impact of human activity is on the environment. The aim is to
investigate the environmental impact of traffic, including human activities, using sustainable
materials distributed in the urban environment. Air pollution monitoring has a low three-
dimensional and time-based resolution and uses only a few sensors with a small footprint.
This is due to limited resources and hence short models using low physical solutions.
Drones help capture spatial amounts of environmental data from smart sensors. They can
also house a variety of sensors and collect data from them. It is quite capable as it can work
closely with data storage hardware in many locations. Data can be sent remotely to a central
location and processed using energy-efficient drone-to-drone and drone-to-ground
connections. Drone platforms and their payloads are discussed in two configurations: 1)
ground-mounted sensors and 2) aerial sensors on the drone.

A single UAV is good but with limited coverage, it cannot cover the whole area of interest.
UAV monitoring is usually done with a group of UAV machines because groups can provide
a larger coverage area. Hence the idea of group of UAV deployment group is considered.
However, this concept is still in its initial stages. There are issues related to the autonomous
operation of group of UAV.

ENERGY SAVING AND WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK

Any Internet of Things network is built on wireless sensor networks. Data sensing, data
processing, data transmission, and data relaying via internal communication with various
systems are the operations occurring. When a sensor system detects data, it gathers some
information, which the processor processes to turn into a format that the user can
understand.
The primary issue with wireless sensor networks is their small power supply. There are now
two approaches to handling this problem. The first step is to reduce the network's energy
usage by modifying the system's operating cycle. The second is energy harvesting, which is
the use of ambient power sources from the environment. Solar energy can also be the
source of ambient energy. It may originate from waves as tidal energy or from the wind as
wind energy, etc.UAVs can get electricity from this ambient energy system when they are
connected to wireless sensor networks.

Aerial Sampling

UAVs are utilized at detection sites and real-time surveillance. Although a single UAV has
good coverage, its resolution is high. It can be applied in various ways to regulate the region
of interest. Due to their ability to cover a wide region, groups of UAVs are typically linked to
UAV monitoring.

Air Pollution Sampling

Because UAVs are affordable, portable, and adaptable, their application is growing. People
are becoming more conscious of the harm that air pollution causes, and the monitoring tools
available today are insufficient to meet the needs of today's cities. UAVs are crucial for data
collection since they are equipped with sensors.

Air Pollution Substances

It is very difficult to quantify and evaluate air pollution. Since pollution is frequently the result
of human activity, large, urban areas are where it is most routinely measured.

There are six typical contaminants. The incomplete burning of fuels including coal, wood,
gas, and oil results in the production of carbon monoxide. Moreover, carbon monoxide is
produced by Carbon monoxide is also released by burning charcoal, automobiles, and
cigarette smokers.

Sensors for Pollution Sampling

Installing inexpensive sensors requires drivers that are easily manufactured and allow for greater
sampling, which improves accuracy. They come into direct touch with contaminated air. The data
from the sensor must be carefully examined and tracked. Numerous factors, including as wind,
humidity, and temperature, have an impact on them. On UAVs, inexpensive sensors can be installed.

Raspberry Pi3 are used in sensing air pollutants from the air in big and urban cities to take
necessary actions and control over pollution when the pollution increases.
UAV System Design for Environmental Monitoring

This essay explores the range of industrial and civil uses of unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs
beyond leisure. This drone is a multirotor, or more precisely, a quadcopter, outfitted with task-
specific sensor nodes1. Utilized sensor nodes include temperature and smoke detectors,
which can be adjusted to detect combustible gasses, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air,
or the amount of smoke in the area the aircraft is flying in. By identifying these indicators, a
fire can be detected and appropriate action can be done before things go out of control2.
Additionally, this quad-rotor gives the user access to a real-time video feed that can be useful
for search and rescue efforts, which can assist save lives in disaster situations or other
circumstances that call for them.

Quadcopters for Surveillance and Environmental Monitoring

Selecting the appropriate UAV platform for the task at hand is just as crucial as carrying it
out. When correctly understood and utilized, the advantages and disadvantages of various
UAV platforms can be combined to create the ideal application-based embedded solution. To
conduct safety inspections, surveillance, environmental monitoring, and smoke detection in
the event of a fire, a quadcopter platform has been designed. The flying platform provides a
central node data transfer feature in addition to GUI-based drone control (see Figure 2 parts
a and b) to make the user's duty easier.

Quadcopter (General Components)

To accomplish flight, a quadcopter needs several key parts, which are as follows
The flight controller is an open-source Arduino board that can measure magnetometer, accelerometer, and
barometer to provide itself the feedback values it needs to continue flying.
Brushless direct current motors Since these are three-phase motors, a three-phase regulated power supply is
needed to adjust each motor's speed and maintain the platform's altitude.
Electronic speed controller the electronic speed controller is a current amplification circuit that receives electricity
from a power supply and distributes it to the motors based on the flight controller's signal. The radio transceiver
module is a control device that the user uses to manually control

Payload Elements Camera Included on board is a 2 mega pixel, 480 TVL camera intended for use as a real-time
video transfer module. This enables video-based operations such as safety inspections, surveillance, and other
video-based operations by providing a live feed from the aircraft. Video telemetry The central data collection
center receives audiovisual data from UAVs via a video telemetry module. This can assist in manually operating
the drone even when it is out of visual range. Global Positioning System This quadcopter functions as an
autonomous flying drone since it uses GPS in conjunction with a flight controller. It gives the drone's current
location and heading and assists in carrying out different activities depending on the area.

Methodology
The system components and technique are presented in this section. The components of the environmental
monitoring system described in this paper are as follows Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Gas Measurement System;
and Water Quality System. These three elements are thoroughly covered in this section. This part also includes
presentations on the calibration process, entire system installation, and cost analysis

1 The UAV
The UAV in this project is a Phantom 3 Advanced model. Table 1 contains a list of some of the crucial
specifications for this UAV. Certain properties of the UAV are particularly helpful for this job. For
instance, it can reach far-off locations that are challenging to get to.

illustrates the intelligent flight mode of the Phantom 3 Advanced, one of several Phantom variants. With
just a finger tap on a smart device, the UAV can automatically take off and land thanks to the intelligent
flight mode. Its whereabouts can be followed on a map. Another purpose for this map is to designate a
new home point. Flying can even be made simple and straightforward by turning on the "Return to
Home" option. This UAV is also capable of taking pictures and making videos.
The Phantom 3 Advanced has far superior range, dependability, and video streaming quality than other
versions that are currently on the market. The primary cause is because the Phantom 3 Advanced makes
use of a system known as Lightbridge. Video and control signals can be handled using this technology.
When the weather is favorable, the Phantom 3 Advanced may cruise up to 5000 meters (3.1 miles) away
from the pilot thanks to the Lightbridge. Stated differently, the Phantom 3 Advanced has a range that is
more than four times greater than that of previous versions. Other fantastic features of the Phantom 3
Advanced include home lock, return to home, course lock, GPS position hold, follow me, waypoints,
point of interest, flight duration estimation, real-time battery monitoring, stabilized video and photo
capture, and manual camera exposure adjustments. The third Phantom.

2 The Gas Measurement System

As seen in the block diagram in the gas measuring system is comprised of a microcontroller-based
monitoring unit installed on the quadcopter. The microcontroller unit, wireless system, sensors, and
storage device make up the monitoring unit. The Arduino microcontroller is used in this work because it
is simple to combine with other hardware and software, easy to obtain suitable hardware on the market,
and straightforward to construct a user-friendly interface with.

Emerging pervasive computing technologies, which are necessary for the effective execution of
controlling system design, include wireless networks and sensors. A monitoring system can incorporate
nearly any wireless technology that facilitates remote data transfer, sensing, and control. The ZigBee
wireless technology is used in this work. The ZigBee uses less electricity than other wireless
technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Furthermore, its objective is automation, while the other two
technologies focus on the connectivity of nearby mobile devices. Furthermore, devices with a greater
range are supported by the ZigBee network.
Sensors are necessary to gather data on air quality. They are able to detect and quantify the quantities of
specific gases. Changes in physical quantities are converted into electrical impulses by the sensors.
Switching circuits are connected to these sensors. These circuits function based on the signals that are
received. The current system's sensors and switching circuits can run constantly to provide real-time
monitoring. All measured data are guaranteed to be recorded by the storage device (SD). This makes it
possible to monitor air quality effectively and precisely even in areas with spotty or intermittent wireless
connectivity.
The gas sensors (O3, CO2, and CH4), temperature and humidity sensor, pressure and humidity sensor,
and SD card module make up the gas measuring system. As seen in, the system used in this work has
five sensors.

3 Gas sensor sensitivity and Calibration

Every sensor utilized in this project has a unique characteristic curve. Before being deployed, the
sensors are calibrated to guarantee that they can measure gases with a high degree of precision. For
this, regression analysis has been applied. The sensitivity curve of the sensors was used to obtain
points for the regression analysis. These points were then utilized to create an equation, which was then
incorporated into the system to measure the concentration of the gas. Generally speaking, indicates the
concentration of greenhouse gases.

where x=Rs/R0, A is a scaling factor, B is an exponent, and ρ is the gas concentration. The clean room
resistance is denoted by R0, while the sensor resistance is represented by Rs. To determine the sensor
resistance Rs, using the,
where RL is the load resistance (10 KΩ–47 KΩ), Vo is the output voltage, and Vcc is the input voltage.
Measurements of the sensor resistance R0 are made in a clean room. In this process, To identify this
resistance, the sensor was kept in a clean room for six to nine hours. The signal produced by the sensor
is analog. This analog signal is converted into a digital signal using an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC)
as the MCU can work with digital signals.

The MQ 135 sensitivity curve for CO2 gas sensor

The sensitivity of the methane gas sensor.
As the sensor interacts with the gases' constituents and adsorbs them with the sensing element (SnO2),
the gases become ionized. This adsorption produces a potential difference on the element, and the
processing unit receives this potential difference as current via the output pins. The data from the sensor
has been read by DHT11 using a unique library.

A unique library has been created to read the sensor's data in order to measure pressure using the BMP
180. It is necessary to take a temperature reading prior to monitoring pressure. The temperature output
will be expressed in Celsius degrees (0C). The unit used to measure pressure is millibar (mb). The height
is computed from the measured pressure. The data are saved in an SD card module once all of these
parameter CO2, CH4, O3, temperature, humidity, pressure, and altitud have been measured. The SD card
library is used to store data on the SD card.

Results

Graphic User Interface: An open source G.U.I. that operates on computers and handheld devices is available to
utilize the drone's autonomous flying capability. These G.U.I. GPS coordinates may be sent to the microcontroller
to provide the drone a flight path. A flight plan can then be established by adding specific activities at each
coordinate.

Central data collection node: An Arduino board with a transceiver module makes up the central node, which
receives and aggregates all of the data transmitted by the sensors during flight. Proteus simulation of the sensor
node, which also serves as a data transmitter, and another node, which serves as a receiver and analyzer, is
displayed below
Circuit diagram for sensor node and transceiver module.

To enable the drone to communicate the data it collected while in flight, the sensor circuit seen in the figure is
packaged and installed on the drone. video receiver Using first person view glasses or a computer or LCD screen
to see the real time flight video is made possible by the video receiver
Screenshot of real-time video being transmitted from drone

Application

The central node's graphical user interface, or lab view data logger, is where all of the data is collected. This
application displays the measured and transmitted temperature as well as the gas intensity to the receiver
module. Additionally, a chart tracking the temperature and smoke levels with time is created.

By adding the appropriate sensor nodes, a flying platform can be used for a variety of tasks rather than being
restricted to just one. The following fields can use this quadcopter Surveillance Due to physical constraints, it is
not possible to have a person constantly on hand to protect or examine a space. However, a computer may
readily perform these tasks much more quickly and effectively. This issue can be resolved by installing a high
definition camera that can transmit its audio-video stream in real time. A flying platform with high altitude flight
capabilities can efficiently and securely conduct surveillance by covering a big region in a short amount of time.

Safety inspection It might be laborious to keep an eye on water dams11, transmission towers, boilers, radio
transceiver towers, etc., and not all of the parts are readily accessible. Another way to accomplish this is to
examine the feed from a high definition camera to identify any malfunctioning or damaged elements. This
shortens the time needed to complete the identical task if carried out by humans. Environmental parameter
monitoring A sensor node package mounted on the drone assists in gathering data on smoke and temperature
from the surrounding airspace. To do this, we can arrange a fly around a specific region, the parameters of which
must be met.

Search and rescue operations Having a bird's eye perspective during these operations can help save a lot of time
and, in certain situations, even the lives of those who are stranded. Using aerial photos of the targeted area
might help expedite the time consuming and tiresome process of searching for someone who has become lost or
stuck in severe weather. Another useful aspect of this drone is its ability to assess disaster affected areas for
search and rescue missions.

Conclusion

In this study, we describe a UAV-based dependable and affordable environmental monitoring system. The
system can measure air quality at various altitudes that are difficult for traditional air quality monitoring
systems to reach. Additionally, the device can gather water samples from both onshore and offshore
water sources and determine the water's quality. We test the system, and the findings demonstrate that it
can transmit data wirelessly to a local monitoring device. Moreover, an SD card will be used by the
system to store data. The system is inexpensive (around USD 1250) in comparison to other current
systems since it uses inexpensive components. Some sample data are also presented in this study.
The current system is limited in a number of ways. One drawback is that we only test the water and air
quality in a small number of carefully chosen areas. We must produce thorough data for the Arabian Gulf
region in order to assess the degree of environmental pollution there. Our work is further limited by the
fact that we employ commercially available sensors. Many dependable and affordable sensors have
recently been developed [36–37]. We require these sensors in the current system for our upcoming
development. In order to cover a specific area, we also need to build an algorithm for the UAV's flying
route. Instead of using a single UAV, we will employ a fleet of them.

References:-