The tests are part of a bigger effort under CircAgric-GHG, that is collecting data and testing the methodology for ruminant methane emission measurements across three different climates and environments: Germany, Kenya and Norway.
Accorcing to a blog post from ILRIs communication department, this is the first use of a drone to measure ruminant methane emissions in Africa.
The tests are part of a bigger effort under CircAgric-GHG, that is collecting data and testing the methodology for ruminant methane emission measurements across three different climates and environments: Germany, Kenya and Norway.
Alouette van Hove, PhD student at University of Oslo, Norway, visited Kapiti in February 2024, together with John Hulth, head engineer at the department of geosciences. The researchers measured emissions from herds of ruminants (camels, goats, cows and sheep that digest plant-based food in a specialized stomach, resulting in methane production as a by-product).
‘We were able to see higher concentrations of methane from cows than sheep which was what we expected to see and showed us that we are on the right track!’ said Alouette van Hove.
‘We aim to confirm that a drone can be an easy, flexible, and rapid method for measuring emissions of livestock herds in their natural environment. You can do it in the fields and with minimal disturbance to the animals, as they do not need to be trained to wear specific equipment or housed in chambers, which are the other methods used by ILRI’s Mazingira Centre,’ said Claudia Arndt, Senior Scientist and Team Leader of the Mazingira Centre.
Read the full blog post here;
First use of a drone to measure ruminant methane emissions in Africa, ILRI news, 30.05.2024
Photo gallery from field work in Kenya. Photos; Vibeke Lind, Alouette van Hove and John Hulth.
Published 24.06.2024.
