UAV Flight Times & Sample Depths - Clipper Pit Lake

Residual pit lakes from mining are often dangerous to sample for water quality. Thus, pit lakes may be rarely (or never) sampled. This study developed new technology in which water-sampling devices mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) were used to sample five pit lakes in Nevada, USA during one week in 2017. A 1.2L Niskin sample bottle was attached to a DJI Matrice 600 to retrieve water samples at depth and the surface. Flight times and sample depths for the Clipper pit lake are presented here. This approach can potentially incorporate the use of additional multi-parameter probes: pH, oxygen concentration, turbidity and chlorophyll. Some limitations of this UAV water sampling methodology are battery duration, weather conditions and payload capacity.