Future applications of the Zeppelin NT as a mission platform

With the increasing knowledge about climate change and growing insight for necessary counter measures, the airborne multispectral analysis becomes more important again. Paris, as the first member of the CCP (Cities for Climate Protection), an association of the 40 largest metropolises in the world, decided to reduce the CO² emission significantly. For this, an environmental inventory with the following focuses was determined:

Thermography:

A flying platform permits to document the energy loss of residential and commercial buildings with an infrared thermographic camera. With this method, the intensity of heat loss is displayed with contrasting colors and is transfered to a patented map. This way, owners of real-estate properties and city governments gain precise information about the energy loss resulting from insufficient roof and face insulation, leakages in pipe systems, defective and antiquated heating systems, etc. 

The measurement flights take place at 650 m (2,133 ft) above ground level and at temperatures below zero degrees C (32 degrees F). For noise and safety reasons, measurement flights of this kind are not permitted with helicopters or airplanes. Prospectively, these flights could be an interesting application niche for the Zeppelin NT.

Environmental anomalies:

In 2007, a new law came into effect whereupon each local authority is obliged to keep an environmental liabilities register about its properties. This includes natural abnormalities (such as e.g. natural radioactivity) as well as weapons from past wars and heavy metal pollutions from different origins. Certifications which guarantee a contamination-free site are part of the sales contract when it comes to property sale. An adequate sensor technology can detect many of these anomalies quickly and efficiently. Therefore, such flights would be a reasonable application possibility for the Zeppelin NT.

Public lighting:

 

Street lighting can account for up to 40 % of energy consumption costs of a city and it is responsible for about 6 % of the CO² emissions. The optimization of streetlights can effect a positive contribution for the cost efficiency as well as for the improvement of the carbon footprint. The safety on the streets and in residential areas would also benefit from the optimized streetlights as the accident frequency and the crime statistics in a city are verifiably dependent on the condition of the streetlights. Furthermore, the city government would get an overview of defective light fittings.

The Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik and the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei are very interested in offering the Zeppelin NT increasingly for these kind of tasks – nationally and throughout Europe.

 

The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety was very impressed with the diverse application possibilities of the Zeppelin NT in environmental technology and mentioned the following application possibilities, which can be realized in a more effective way by Zeppelin than with other platforms:

• water conservation (detection of water pollution)
• implementation of the EU air quality guidelines (NO², ozone, particle pollution measurement)
• monitoring the emission ceilings (SO², ammonia, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxydes)
• determination of national emissions (calculation and deduction of reduction possibilities)
• monitoring the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution of Geneva (pollution measurements)
• compiling local energy and light balances.

With the success of the field campaigns Zepter 07 and 08 on behalf of the German Research Center Jülich in 2007 and 2008, the applicability of the Zeppelin NT as scientific working platform was proven sustainably and convincing. International scientists have shown since then a continually increasing interest in the Zeppelin NT. Due to the necessary development and admission work, the ZLT and the DZR could also register sophisticated subsequent orders.

 

In 2012, the success story of the flying laboratory will be continued with the international contribution and with financial support of the EU and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. On behalf of the German Research Center Jülich and together with 26 further institutes from 15 countries, the Zeppelin NT is expected to start for two measurement campaigns within the European climatology program PEGOS in Scandinavia and Italy in May 2012, lasting several weeks.