Drone Industry Gas Detection Solution: Nexisense Drives Intelligent Upgrade of Atmospheric Monitoring

In recent years, atmospheric pollution issues have become increasingly prominent, with frequent occurrences of smog, dust storms, and other extreme weather events threatening public health and ecological environment. Carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and other pollutants are the main causes. The country has deployed a grid-based ground monitoring network combining national control points and provincial control points. However, ground monitoring is limited by terrain and coverage range, making it difficult to achieve full-domain three-dimensional monitoring. As an emerging platform, drones, with their strong mobility, rapid response, and wide coverage advantages, are gradually being applied in the field of atmospheric monitoring. By carrying high-precision gas sensors, drones can conduct aerial inspections, pollution source tracking, and emergency response, compensating for the deficiencies of ground systems.

Nexisense focuses on gas sensing technology, and its SGA-700 series intelligent high-precision gas sensor modules are specially designed for drones, featuring compact size, light weight, and high precision. They have been applied in multiple atmospheric monitoring projects across various regions, helping users transition from planar monitoring to three-dimensional monitoring and improving the precision and timeliness of pollution prevention and control.

Advantages and Challenges of Drones in Atmospheric Monitoring

The advantages of drone atmospheric monitoring are obvious: it is not affected by terrain and can quickly reach remote or dangerous areas, such as industrial parks, upstream river areas, or urban high altitudes; monitoring height is flexible, from tens of meters above ground to hundreds of meters, enabling multi-layer atmospheric sampling; fast response speed, suitable for tracking sudden pollution events. At the same time, drones can integrate GPS, cameras, and sensors to form data fusion and generate pollutant distribution heat maps.

However, drone payload is limited, typically requiring sensors with volume<50cm³ and weight <50g, and low power consumption to extend flight time. Traditional sensors are often bulky and have unstable output, making it difficult to meet the requirements. This necessitates the development of dedicated modules to ensure high precision, stability, and compatibility. Nexisense has optimized sensor design to address these challenges, promoting the widespread application of drones in environmental monitoring.

Details of Nexisense SGA-700 Series Gas Sensor Module

The SGA-700 series adopts original imported sensor cores, with secondary calibration, temperature and humidity compensation, signal amplification, and anti-interference optimization, forming a standardized module. Suitable for monitoring common pollutants such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone, with response time<10 seconds and accuracy up to ±2% FS.

Core Product Features and Technological Innovations

• Miniaturized Design: Uniform size (approx. 30×20×15mm), light weight (<20g), consistent pin positioning for all gas types, facilitating quick integration into drones without structural modification.

• Diverse Output Signals: 5V power supply version outputs 0-5V voltage + TTL serial port; 24V power supply version outputs 4-20mA + TTL serial port. Extended to RS485 Modbus-RTU, RS232, USB-to-TTL via conversion board, compatible with drone main control systems such as Pixhawk or ROS.

• Strong Environmental Adaptability: Built-in temperature and humidity compensation algorithm, operating range -20℃～+50℃, 0～95% RH; low power consumption (<50mW), suitable for battery power supply; vibration-resistant, anti-electromagnetic interference, meeting drone flight conditions.

• High-Precision Monitoring: Resolution up to 0.01 ppm level, high stability, continuous flight monitoring error<5%. Supports diffusion sampling, suitable for high-speed inspections.

Compared to traditional sensors, this series solves problems of weak signals and large drift, allowing users to directly connect to the drone data link for real-time transmission to the ground station.

Integration and Data Processing

After the module outputs standard signals, the drone system can upload data to the cloud platform via GPRS/4G/5G. Ground software analyzes concentration data, generating curve charts, historical records, and alarm thresholds (e.g., CO 10ppm warning). Combined with GIS, it can draw pollutant diffusion paths and support decision-making.

Typical Application Scenarios and Actual Cases

Drone gas detection is suitable for various scenarios:

• Urban Atmospheric Inspection: Equipped with SGA-700 to monitor ozone and nitrogen oxides, covering elevated bridges and industrial areas, assisting grid-based monitoring.

• Pollution Source Tracking: During emergency response, quickly locate sulfur dioxide leak sources, such as chemical plants or volcanic activity areas.

• Environmental Assessment: Monitoring CO₂ over rivers and forests to evaluate carbon sink capacity.

• Disaster Monitoring: During dust storms or wildfires, monitoring mixed PM and gas pollutants.

Multiple institutions have adopted Nexisense solutions. In an environmental protection bureau project, after integrating SGA-700 into drones, the monitoring range expanded by 3 times, response time reduced to minute level, successfully tracking multiple industrial emission events. In another case, used for smog warning, data accuracy reached over 95%.

Practical Considerations for Implementing Drone Gas Detection Systems

When selecting modules, evaluate drone payload, endurance, and data interfaces. Installation must be secure, avoiding propeller interference. Calibrate sensors before flight using standard gas cylinders for zero adjustment. Combined with AI algorithms, automatic path planning can improve monitoring efficiency. For maintenance, calibrate quarterly to ensure accuracy.

Common Questions and Answers (FAQ)

Q1: Which atmospheric pollutant gases does the Nexisense SGA-700 series currently support? Can multi-gas combinations be customized according to specific monitoring tasks (such as urban smog or industrial emission tracking)?

A1: The standard series covers common atmospheric pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O₃), volatile organic compounds (VOC), and carbon dioxide (CO₂). For specific tasks, such as urban ozone layer monitoring (priority O₃ + NO₂), industrial park leak tracking (adding H₂S or NH₃), forest carbon sink assessment (high-precision CO₂), we provide customization services. Up to 2-4 gas channels can be integrated simultaneously, adjusting ranges (e.g., O₃ 0-500 ppb low-concentration version), sensitivity, and cross-interference compensation algorithms. Customization requires information on task altitude range, flight duration, expected target pollutant concentration, and drone model, usually delivering prototypes in 4-8 weeks, ensuring total weight and power consumption are within payload limits.

Q2: How is accuracy and stability ensured in environments of high-speed drone flight or large temperature differences at altitude?

A2: Built-in advanced temperature and humidity compensation algorithm and motion interference filtering, operating range -20℃～+50℃, 0～95% RH no condensation. Under flight speed<60km/h and altitude <500m conditions, accuracy error <±3% FS, response time <10 seconds. Actual tests show drift <±2% FS/hour in high-altitude inspections with temperature differences over 20℃. Recommended measures: 1) Preheat 5-10 minutes before installation to stabilize baseline; 2) Use shock-absorbing fixed bracket to reduce vibration; 3) Combine drone IMU data for real-time motion compensation; 4) Perform zero calibration with standard gas cylinder before flights in extreme weather; 5) Cloud post-processing fuses meteorological data for further correction.

Q3: How to quickly connect the output signal with different types of drone main control systems? Are there development support resources?

A3: The module provides TTL serial port (most commonly used), 0-5V analog output, 4-20mA current loop, and other outputs, compatible with mainstream platforms such as Pixhawk, DJI Matrice series, ArduPilot, PX4, etc. We provide free: SDK sample code (C++/Python/ROS nodes), communication protocol documentation, wiring reference diagrams, Modbus register table, and debugging tools. Integration cycle is usually 1-2 weeks, supporting RS485/USB-to-TTL conversion via extension board. For custom flight controls, data acquisition node templates are provided for direct integration into the telemetry link, enabling real-time concentration upload to the ground station.

Q4: What is the impact of module weight and power consumption on drone endurance and payload? How to optimize to extend flight time?

A4: Single module weight<20g, power consumption <50mW, impact on endurance of medium and large drones (such as DJI M300/M350, Autel EVO II Enterprise) <5%. Multi-gas combination total weight <60g, power consumption <150mw. optimization="" suggestions:="" use="" 5v="" low-voltage="" power="" supply="" set="" sampling="" interval="" 1-60="" seconds="" reducing="" average="" independent="" battery="" pack="" in="" flight="" path="" planning="" avoids="" high-power-consumption="" single="" module="" achieves="">35 minutes per flight, multi-module >25 minutes, still meeting most inspection requirements.

Q5: Does temperature and humidity variation in high-altitude environments significantly affect sensor readings? How to perform calibration and compensation?

A5: The module has a built-in real-time temperature and humidity compensation algorithm that automatically corrects drift in the -20℃～+50℃ range, with error caused by humidity changes <±2%. in="" extreme="" high="" altitudes="">300m) or rapid ascents/descents, ground calibration before flight is recommended (zero + span adjustment with standard gas cylinder, operation<5 minutes). The cloud platform supports post-processing: fusing drone meteorological sensor data for automatic reading correction. In actual projects, compensated high-altitude data synchronizes with ground station error <5%. Comprehensive calibration once per quarter to ensure long-term accuracy.

Q6: Does it support simultaneous integration of multiple modules to achieve synchronized multi-gas monitoring? How to manage data synchronization?

A6: Supports mounting multiple modules via RS485 bus (up to 8-16, depending on flight control bandwidth), with unified address distinction for synchronized multi-gas acquisition. Data is uniformly reported to the main controller via TTL/RS485, with timestamp synchronization error<50ms. Provides multi-channel acquisition sample code, supporting ROS topic publishing or GPRS batch upload. In actual applications, simultaneous monitoring of CO + SO₂ + NO₂ + O₃ is possible, forming pollutant fingerprint identification for easy pollution source tracing.

Q7: What is the lifespan and maintenance cost of the sensor module? What are the key daily maintenance steps?

A7: Typical lifespan of electrochemical sensors 2-4 years, PID/infrared type 4-6 years. Influencing factors: long-term high-concentration exposure, extreme temperature and humidity, dust adhesion. Maintenance plan: 1) Visual inspection of probe before each flight; 2) Monthly zero calibration with clean air; 3) Quarterly span calibration with standard gas cylinder; 4) Add front breathable membrane in high-pollution environments. Annual maintenance cost approximately 10-15% of device price. We provide modular on-site replacement service (completed in 5 minutes) and calibration kits, with annual maintenance contracts available for bulk users to reduce costs.

Q8: How to quickly obtain selection suggestions, integration guidance, or prototype trials for specific drone platforms?

A8: Please visit the Nexisense official website to submit requirements, or contact sales/technical support, providing the following information: drone model (DJI/Dàjiāng/self-developed, etc.), payload and endurance limitations, target gas list, monitoring altitude range, flight mission type, data transmission method (GPRS/5G). We usually reply within 24-48 hours with detailed selection tables, weight and power consumption estimates, integration schemes, and reference cases. For key projects, free prototype trials (1-2 months, including remote integration guidance, flight test verification, and data analysis support) or engineer-provided online/on-site debugging services can be arranged.

Summary

Drone gas detection represents the future direction of atmospheric monitoring. The Nexisense SGA-700 series, with miniaturized and high-precision design, empowers three-dimensional drone monitoring and drives intelligent pollution prevention and control. Facing environmental challenges, early integration of reliable solutions will contribute to sustainable development. Nexisense will continue to innovate and create a clean sky together with users.