An unmanned aerial vehicle is configured to fly along a flight path and collect a substance at a specified geographic location. For example, the unmanned aerial vehicle may include a rail mount to which various attachments can be coupled. One such attachment may be a rail attachment coupled to a support that carries a canister. The canister may include a lid that allows substances to enter the canister, but that prevents substances from exiting the canister. The unmanned aerial vehicle can fly to the specified geographic location, descend or otherwise cause the canister to descend, and maintain a position for a period of time to allow a substance to enter the canister. The unmanned aerial vehicle can then return to the point of origin.

Described herein are implements that include a vehicle having a system for sensing or testing soil and/or vegetation as the vehicle traverses a field.

Embodiments of an apparatus comprising a plurality of multiple-gas analysis devices positioned within a relevant area, each multiple-gas analysis device capable of detecting the presence, concentration, or both, of one or more gases. A data and control center is communicatively coupled to each of the plurality of multiple-gas analysis device, the data and control system including logic that, when executed, allows the data and control center to monitor readings from the plurality of multiple-gas analysis devices and if any readings indicate the presence of one or more contaminants, identifying the source of the contaminants based on the readings from the plurality of multiple-gas analysis devices.

A networked air quality monitoring system. Such a system could provide information beyond the user's local instrument on air quality over a much larger area. This information could be used by a user to make decisions about frequenting particular areas based on the results, or to alert them to changing conditions in the area so that the user might act before local conditions change.

An air sample collection apparatus and methods for operating the air sample collection apparatus are provided. The air sample apparatus comprises a plurality of air canisters comprising at least a first canister and a second canister, a multi-position valve comprising an outlet, and an inlet region, which are fluidly connected to a plurality of ports. Each respective port is fluidly connected to a canister of the plurality of air canisters, a pump operable to provide pressurized sample air to the inlet region of the multi-position valve, and a computing device operable to open and close each respective port fluidly coupled to each canister of the plurality of canisters.

Embodiments of an apparatus comprising a plurality of multiple-gas analysis devices positioned within a relevant area, each multiple-gas analysis device capable of detecting the presence, concentration, or both, of one or more gases. A data and control center is communicatively coupled to each of the plurality of multiple-gas analysis device, the data and control system including logic that, when executed, allows the data and control center to monitor readings from the plurality of multiple-gas analysis devices and if any readings indicate the presence of one or more contaminants, identifying the source of the contaminants based on the readings from the plurality of multiple-gas analysis devices.

Some embodiments provide a non-transitory machine-readable medium that stores a program. The program receives from a data modeling system a data model definition of a data model. The program further generates a query for geo-enriched data from the data model based on the data model definition. The program also sends the query to a proxy system for the proxy system to forward the query to a geo-enriched data system. The program further receives a set of geo-enriched data from the geo-enriched data system via the proxy system.

In various embodiments, the invention is a versatile, automated system to allow researchers to continuously measure gas flux rates from multiple chambers over time without (or with reduced) need for personnel in the field. The invention is compatible with any high-frequency analyzer or vial filler and most chamber designs.

An autonomous soil sampling device. The device including a vehicle for generally autonomously navigating a given area for sampling and adapted with systems to generally avoid obstacles during maneuvering. The device including a soil sampling system designed for placement on a platform of the vehicle and including an extraction arm having a probe and auger to probe into the soil for extracting a quantity of soil. The extraction arm rotationally received on a housing and movable to an inverted position for depositing the quantity of extracted soil into a packaging assembly for collection, labeling, and storage of the individual samples.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for detecting seepage of hydrocarbons in subterranean zones. In one aspect, a method includes detecting hydrocarbon seepage at multiple different sampling depths from a surface in a surveyed geographic region, comparing each of the hydrocarbon seepage at the multiple different sampling depths, wherein hydrocarbon seepage at a reference depth is known, and determining hydrocarbon seepage through the surveyed geographic region based on a result of the comparison.