UC Merced mechanical engineer YangQuan Chen and his research team, including postdoctoral researcher Derek Hollenbeck, leader of the team that won the 2021–22 CITRIS Aviation Prize, will take part in a comprehensive, $20 million interagency effort to measure and mitigate methane emissions.
The team will use their share of the award — roughly $900,000 funded by the U.S. Department of Energy — to make field measurements in California and create data-collecting drones equipped with laser spectrometers tuned to detect methane. Their process seeks to speed up and improve the accuracy of modeling emissions and their effects.
Measurements acquired from the project will assist government, tribal and industry mitigation efforts, and the team also plans to share data with oil and gas operators to aid leak detection and repair practices. The project will also engage students, with lessons incorporated into coursework at UC Merced, and community members from disadvantaged communities.