Hi @MaxEnger ! I am a cartography student myself and sometimes work as an onboard technician on oceanographic surveys. Your project sounds amazing! Over here in Argentina we are working together with ETER pollution monitor by @juli and friends. They have developed a simple PM sensor, which is cheap and relatively easy to build. We are planning activities on Villa Inflamable, a population that lies next to a petrochemical plant in Buenos Aires. Will be publishing pics over here! When thinking about airborne sensors weight is a variable to take into account. Although the Aerocene Explorer should be perfectly capable of carrying a Dustduino on sunny day. The idea to visualize with ArcMaps is great, as it is an industry standard. As well, we try to push for open hardware & software. I wonder if this could be done with opensource QgisS? In any case, it is great to e-meet you! Here to help 
My best, @Joaquin