2018 methane emission quantification controlled release test at the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve with sUAS
Data files
Oct 11, 2025 version files 5.48 MB
-
20181106_all.csv
5.48 MB
-
README.md
1.58 KB
Abstract
Environmental sensing using small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) has become more and more desirable due to the spatial temporal resolution and frequency of sampling. A methane controlled release campaign was conducted at the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve for the purpose of testing the quantification performance of a sUAS-based methane measurement system using an open path laser spectrometer (OPLS). A single emission source was simulated, and mutiple flights were conducted downwind of the source to measure the emission using a mass-balance method. The wind, sUAS-trajectory, and concentration was measured for each flight.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.612jm64g9
Description of the data and file structure
The data set includes the aircraft and measurement data for a controlled release experiment in the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve. The data set covers the entire day curtain-based flights for quantifying methane emissions using the mass balance approach. The data is structured such that there are 14 columns and each row corresponds to a time step given by column 1.
The controlled release rate of methane is 12.9 standard cubic feet per hour (SCFH) and the release location is at: 37.37452N, 120.41487W.
Files and variables
File: 20181106_all.csv
Description:
Variables
- time: in milliseconds of the day
- ch4: methane molar ratio in parts per million
- eth: ethane (not used)
- h20: water (not used)
- pressure: (not used)
- temperature: (not used)
- longitude: aircraft GPS
- latitude: aircraft GPS
- altitude: in meters from aircraft GPS
- altitude_lidar: (not used)
- windspeed: in meters per second from local ground-based tower
- winddirection: in degrees from local ground-based tower
- heading: aircraft compass
- pyranometer: (not used)
Code/software
Most software that can read CSV file can be used (e.g. excel, MATLAB, Python, etc.).
Access information
Other publicly accessible locations of the data:
- n/a
Data was derived from the following sources:
- n/a