I’m a pilot, how can I be volunteer?
We are always looking for pilots to get involved, in order to build a worldwide network of volunteers. Being a volunteer pilot means you could receive an instrument for free, in order to take data for us in exchange. The instruments are “plug and play” and do not require any specific equipment (except a computer with an internet connection to transfer the data). Each instrument comes with a pilot kit, containing all the necessary elements for you to fly it safely: safety carabiners, velcro straps, a user guide, etc. as well as some goodies to thank you for your contribution, and to help us expand our network: a “crew” patch, stickers, flyers and business cards, etc.
The instruments will be free, even if we may ask for a deposit. In exchange, you will engage yourself to fly regularly (but only when it is safe for you!!!), bringing the instrument with you to acquire data, before to transfer them to us after the flights. If we have too many volunteers for the number of available instruments, we allow ourselves to operate a selection based on flying cadence, geographical situation, etc. in order to obtain the best spatial and temporal coverage for the science cases of the project.
Although we are not yet ready to distribute instruments, don’t hesitate to contact us and to let us know of your interest to volunteer. The first 100 instruments are focusing on the Jura/Alps region over France and Switzerland. You are not from this region? Please still contact us! We are willing to already build the network for the wider future of our project. In particular, in the future, we might run focussed data collection campaign in specific regions or landscape, and we are looking forward to build the network for this specific aspect of the project too.
I’m not a pilot, can I still contribute?
YES! A very big Yes! First of all, as this is a citizen science project conducted during our free-time, we take all the help available! We also always look forward to expand the set of skills available in the team. Secondly, in order to reduce our ecological footprint, we aim to produce the insert for the pilot kits out of the recycled paper, and the protection case of the instruments out of recycled plastic. For the latter, we plan to use HDPE, what bottle caps are usually made of. As such, we will run campaigns of bottle cap collection, and you can help by collecting and sending us some! (Contact us for more info about that!).
If you would like to participate financially, we currently don’t accept donations from private persons but we might in the future. Furthermore, we plan to implement three switchable operation modes on the instruments:
- Flight mode by default.
- Hike and bike: focusing on ground-level pollution. Data taken during this mode would also be available to scientists.
- Home monitoring: this will enable the pilots to monitor the air quality in their house using tools available on the project’s website. Data will be personal and inaccessible to the scientists.
So another way for you to contribute would be to build your own instrument to use when hiking or biking. Indeed, once the prototype completed, it will be open-source and the computer program running it too so you can build yours. Count between 100 and 150 CHF/euros to make one. Also the hike and bike mode is for now only a side feature, we plan in the long term future to dedicate a project to it after we will have launched AAA/AP5 at a European scale, so keep an eye on the project by signing to our newsletters or social media platforms!
Finally, and very importantly, the data collected will have the potential to be used as a leverage on political decisions. We thus aim at involving not only pilots, but also anyone wanting to act for our planet. This leverage could be used at all levels of the political sphere, from the European Union Green Deal, to small villages. The latter would be at the initiative of volunteer pilots/bikers. For example, they could use the results they will gather during the bike and hike mode to identify hotspots for pollution concentration, and then work with territorial development entities to solve those problems.
I’m a scientist/research institute, a school or a private company, can I get involved?
We are always looking for additional partners and sponsors to develop the project further. In particular, we look forward to be able to expand our network to new countries and languages, and to equip pilots in those other countries. Part of the data collected will be in open-access, you will be free to use those as long as you include the appropriate acknowledgement. We are eager to do more science with the collected data, and to develop new scientific partnerships.
If you would like to get involved: please contact us to discuss of the available opportunities.
You wonder how you could get involved exactly? Here are a few examples:
- You are a scientist, and the project is already present in your country: you could propose a new analysis of the data, focussing on different aspects than the researchers currently involved. Or you help enhance the instrument by adding new measurement capacities.
- You are a scientist, but the project is not in your country yet: you could help apply to academic/governmental grants in your country, in order to build instruments dedicated to your country. We will also be looking forward to get national point of contact/coordinators in various countries to help with translation of the material and contact with the local pilots, or to analyse the specifics of a region.
- Your company as at heart to act for ecological concerns and for the climate, and you would like to show this by sponsoring project in that domain.
- You are a paragliding organisation (school, equipment provider, etc.), you could help us spread the word about this project toward other pilots to development the measurement network!
- You are a school teacher, and you would like to involve your class room in a science project related to ecology, either on the atmospheric science analysis, helping building instrument for the electronic teaching, etc. we can discuss projects together!