In recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and their use in crisis management have advanced significantly from delivering medical supplies to searching for missing people. During crises, hazmat teams face substantial risk and life-threatening situations when surveying toxic gas leaks and radiation incidents. Fixed monitors are sparse, and manual measurements are slow and dangerous. The aim of this study is to enhance safety and prevent humans from being exposed to these hazards while providing a safe and reliable approach to detect gas leaks and radiation. To address these challenges and leverage new technologies and recent advancements in UAVs, this study presents the design and fabrication of a UAV-mounted sensing system for detecting and mapping hazardous gases and radiation safely. The UAV was integrated with a modular payload that serves as a deployment bay for the sensor systems.

The sensing system contains single-use sensors, electrochemical gas sensors, and Geiger radiation detectors. Real-time data transmission from these sensors to a ground station was facilitated through an Internet of Things (IoT) application using a Long Range Low Power (LoRa) communication module. The experimental results showed that the integrated UAV system achieved a flight duration of 15 minutes and an operation range of 12 kilometers, respectively, with an extended communication range of the sensors that can reach up to 20 kilometers. In conclusion, the results of this study confirm that this study enhances the safety, speed, and efficiency of detecting these hazards, providing accurate and dependable readings for crisis response.