Because of the impact of COVID-19, we shut down the measurement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at Technology for All (TFA) to focus on analysis of data already collected. In late 2020, still in the midst of the pandemic, we began seeking a new location for deployment of the FROG. Personal health issues necessitated a change in team membership, so the FROG was brought back to the laboratory at Rice for maintenance, calibration, and training of a new team member. Later in summer 2021, a new field deployment will be identified, and the instrumentation will be deployed for sampling of VOCs again.
We focus on the analysis of the data set that we have already collected at the TFA site (Technology for All). Our objective is to analyze the time series of the BTEX data (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene) in order to identify the baseline of BTEX concentrations in the measurement site while characterizing the detection limit of the instrumentation deployed (known as the FROG sensor). We aim to use spikes as indicators of leak/emission events, leading to development of a protocol to launch instrumented drones.
The data collected through March 2020 showed that time series were characterized by flat profiles with a large fraction of data below the detection limit of the deployed instrumentation (the FROG sensor). Data collected at Rice show similar characteristics as those collected at TFA. Later in summer 2021, a new field deployment will be identified, and the instrumentation will be deployed for sampling of VOCs again in a different site where VOC concentrations are expected to be higher those observed in the current measurement site.
Publications
- A. Boubrima and E. Knightly, “Robust Environmental Sensing using UAVs”, ACM Transactions on Internet of Things (in press).
- Petrolo, Z. Shaikhanov, Y. Lin, and E. Knightly, “ASTRO: a System for Off-Grid Networked Drone Sensing Missions”, ACM Transactions on Internet of Things (in press).
- Shaikhanov, A. Boubrima, and E. Knightly, “Autonomous Drone Networks for Sensing, Localizing and Approaching RF Targets,” in Proceedings of IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference (VNC), December 2020.