Air monitoring

Plants, fungi, pathogens and mammals from the air.

Biological signals are not confined to water. CY45 captures airborne molecular material moving through the landscape, providing samples that can feed directly into existing molecular workflows.

Discuss a deployment Why timing matters

What air sampling is for

A wider net than a water sample can cast.

A water sample reflects what is present in that water at the point of collection. An air sample can capture molecular material moving through the surrounding environment, bringing signals from beyond the immediate sampling point.

That makes it useful for a different kind of question: not only what is here, but what is around. Plant, fungal, pathogen and mammal signals can all be carried through the air.

A CY45 cyclone air sampler on a tripod beside a tripod-mounted weather station on open grassland.
A CY45 cyclone air sampler on a tripod at a lough shore, with a connected meteorological sensor on a second tripod alongside.
Air

CY45

A cyclone-based sampler that concentrates airborne biological material directly into a tube-based format, avoiding collection onto a substrate that then requires an additional recovery step.

The design is focused on what happens next. By minimising handling between recovery and analysis, CY45 produces samples that can fit more easily into established molecular workflows.

  • Cyclone capture into a concentrated tube-based format
  • Capture a broad taxonomic range, including plant, fungal, pathogen and mammal signals
  • Collect meteorological context through connected sensors supplied as part of the deployment
  • Minimal handling between recovery and laboratory analysis
  • Tripod or fixed mounting for defined sampling periods
  • Remote monitoring through the EASI Dashboard while deployed
  • Feed samples into your own analytical workflow or use Biota Trace for end-to-end delivery

Why timing matters

Airborne signals change with time and conditions.

What CY45 captures depends not only on what is present in the surrounding environment, but on when sampling takes place and the conditions during that period.

The argument in full

  1. Day and night

    Activity patterns can influence when biological material is most likely to be airborne. Sampling can therefore be aligned with periods when the target organism is more likely to be detectable.

  2. Weather

    Rainfall, wind and other meteorological conditions can change what is moving through the air. Connected sensors provide that context alongside the molecular sample.

  3. Rules and external data

    Sampling periods can also be informed by forecasts, alerts or other external data, allowing deployments to respond to conditions beyond the immediate sampling site.

See it working

CY45, deployed.

A short film on cyclone-based air sampling — how the sample is captured, how deployment is monitored, and how the recovered tube enters the analytical workflow.

Not sure air is the right medium?

Tell us the target, and we will help identify the right medium.

Some questions are better answered in water, some in air, and some need both.

Talk to the team Water monitoring

Where air sampling is applied

Questions the air answers better.

An American mink emerging from a gap between limestone boulders on a riverbank.

Invasive & Non-Native Species

Detect mammal and insect presence across a wider area, including species that are active outside conventional sampling windows.

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A peacock butterfly feeding on grape hyacinth flowers in spring sunshine.

Biodiversity & eDNA

Capture airborne plant, fungal and mammal signals to complement ground-based or water-based biodiversity monitoring.

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A microscopy field of airborne particles and spores collected on a sampling substrate.

Pathogens & Bioaerosols

Monitor airborne biological threats around a site or across a wider area, using scheduled or condition-responsive sampling.

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