Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Chromatograph for Atmospheric Trace Species (UCATS)

CIRES (Univ. of Colorado) & NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory
Boulder, Colorado

UCATS was designed and built for autonomous operation aboard the Altair Unmanned Aircraft System in an unpressurized, ambient temperature environment. To date it has amassed >140 operational flight hours, including three flights >20 hours in duration.

UCATS is three different instruments in one enclosure:

The UCATS enclosure measures 41 x 46 x 25 cm (W x L x H) and weighs 28 kg (62 lbs).
Power consumption is 9 Amps @ 28 VDC (250 W), 16 A (450 W) during warm-up.

External to the UCATS enclosure are:


UCATS: a 2-channel GC, an ozone photometer (OZ) and a TDL hygrometer (WV)