AUAVs Help Study Air Pollution

V. Ramanathan, of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, poses next to several autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (AUAVs) that are providing scientists with important insights into how air pollution shapes global warming.  A research consortium led by Ramanathan first began using these AUAVs in Maldives about two years ago. In May, the team published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences outlining some of their findings.  

The Maldives are a good place to observe a phenomenon known as brown clouds, or very large plumes of air pollution that form particulate-laden haze and cumulus clouds. Brown clouds can be formed naturally during large forest fires, for example, but today there are several man-made brown clouds that last virtually year round as human activity generates smoke from power plants, automobiles, factories and other sources.  Watch a video about the research at the NSF website.

Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego