IM4CA WP1 hosted a Drone Intercomparison Campaign in Cyprus
From 8 to 12 December of 2025, the Cyprus Institute (CyI) hosted an IM4CA WP1 drone-based methane (CH₄) measurement intercomparison campaign. The primary objective of the campaign was to compare CH₄ emission fluxes derived independently by different teams from drone-based measurements, and to assess potential biases, advantages, and limitations associated with the various measurement platforms, flight strategies, and flux quantification methodologies.
Four teams (CyI, AGH University of Krakow, INCAS, and Utrecht University) participated in coordinated UAV measurements of CH₄ emissions. The campaign focused on controlled CH₄ releases performed at the Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL) runway in Orounda, Cyprus, as well as measurements downwind of the Kotsiatis landfill, located 15 km south of Nicosia.
The first four days of the campaign were dedicated to controlled release experiments, while the final day was reserved for landfill measurements. Due to organisational constraints, the INCAS team deployed their Aeris instrument on a CyI drone, and the AGH team conducted most of their flights using a CyI platform, with only a limited number of flights performed on their own UAV. Adverse weather conditions during the early part of the week required a reorganisation of the measurement schedule, leading to a higher concentration of flights later in the week and the cancellation of one of the originally-planned landfill measurement days.
Despite these unforeseen challenges, the campaign was overall highly successful, providing valuable opportunities for in-depth exchanges between teams on plume measurement strategies, flight patterns, data processing, and flux quantification methodologies.
In the coming weeks, continued collaboration and joint data evaluation efforts are planned to further compare flux estimates and assess the strengths and limitations of each approach. These exchanges are expected to strengthen methodological consistency across IM4CA partners and support improved synergy in drone-based CH₄ emission quantification, particularly in preparation for the upcoming Romania campaign planned for May–June 2026.