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Made in Surrey: Robots flying kites to monitor greenhouse gas emissions
3rd February 2025
New devices that can monitor gas emissions – and which way the wind is blowing them – will be built at the University of Surrey, thanks to a £620,000 grant.
The team will build new, lightweight wireless gas sensors. These will be attached to helium kites and flown by an autonomous robot. Researchers hope the new devices will be able to monitor emissions.
Dr Robert Siddall, Lecturer in Robotics at the University of Surrey, said:
“If the world is to reach net zero, we need to be able to check that emissions really are reducing.
“Previous projects tried to use drones to monitor gas flux – but the quality of their measurements wasn’t good, their flight time was too short, and airspace restrictions limited their use.
“Our robot balloon towers, kitted out with sensors and built here at Surrey, should solve many of these challenges.”
The team will work with several local businesses. University spin-out company Surrey Sensors Ltd will build the sensors, while Hampshire’s Allsopp Helikites Ltd will provide the helium balloons.
This complex project will combine a range of skills from across the University – from fluid dynamics to building robots, analysing data and sensing emissions.
The technology will be tested in a variety of locations – including Thames Water treatment works, the University’s land at Blackwell Farm, Guildford, and rice paddies in Spain.
Dr Bing Guo, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, said:
“The UK water sector faces huge challenges in achieving net zero. One of the biggest issues is that wastewater treatment systems produce methane and nitrous oxide. These have a much greater warming potential than that of carbon dioxide.
“We don’t have an accurate and affordable way to monitor these emissions. Our project will create innovative tools for the industry to achieve net zero.”
Dr Belén Martí-Cardona, Associate Professor in Earth Observation and Hydrology, said:
“Rice farming is one of the main methane emitters worldwide. Farmers can access financial incentives for reducing their emissions. We are currently using satellite images to monitor whether these practices are being implemented, and using simulation models to estimate the emission reductions achieved.
“This new project will allow us to take ground measurements of the actual emissions, which we need to calibrate and verify our estimates.”
This is one of 13 projects nationwide to be funded by a £12m investment from UKRI’s Natural Environment Research Council, Defra and Innovate UK.
The research will support UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 (climate action).
