Search

The frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FM-CW) technique, based on the beat signal of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer employing a frequency-ramped light source, is studied for solid scattering media applications. The method is used to evaluate the mean time-of-flight (MTOF) of light traveling in scattering media, specifically polystyrene foams. We assume that each the time-of-flight (TOF) time corresponds to different light scattering paths resulting in a different phase shift. The phase shift variations produce a speckle pattern, which together with the frequency leakage induced by the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) cause 'spikes' in the power spectrum of the beat signal, thus decreasing the accuracy of the measured MTOF values in solid scattering media. For comparison, time-of-flight spectroscopy (TOFS) is also employed to evaluate the MTOF for the same samples, while the geometrical difference between these two techniques is compensated for by using diffusion theory. The MTOFs measured by the FMCW and TOFS techniques agree well, which demonstrates a great potential to develop a robust FMCW setup for simplified MTOF assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel pathlength enhancement approach has been applied in multimode diode laser correlation spectroscopy measurements of gas concentrations. Reference and sample gas cells made of porous polystyrene foam and alumina ceramic, respectively, were employed in proof-of-principle measurements of molecular oxygen. Equivalent pathlengths of 164 and 52 cm were obtained for the reference and sample cells with physical pathlengths of 4 and 1 cm, respectively. With a measurement time of 60 s, a physical-pathlength-integrated sensitivity of 15 ppm⋅m was achieved with an enhancement of more than one order of magnitude compared with an open-air setup. Practical application aspects were investigated including gas cell size and light alignment tolerance. This generic approach for pathlength enhancement provides advantages in terms of compactness and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An optical sensor based on differential absorption spectroscopy for real-time monitoring of industrial nitric oxide (NO) gas emission is described. The influence of gas absorption interference from sulfur dioxide (SO) in the environment was considered and a spectral separation technique was developed in order to eliminate this interference effect. The absorption spectrum of SO around 226 nm was evaluated by the SO concentration obtained using the experimentally recorded absorption spectrum around 300 nm. The absorption spectrum of NO around 226 nm was obtained by subtracting the absorption of SO from the integral absorption spectrum of SO and NO. The concentration measurements were performed at atmospheric pressure. The technique was found to have a lower detection limit of 0.8 ppm for NO per meter path length (SNR=2) and be immune from the influence from SO on the NO measurement. The sensor based on this technique was successfully employed for in situ measurement of SO and NO concentrations in the flue gas emitted from an industrial coal-fired boiler. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fluorescence of different types of planthopper ( Hemiptera) and moth ( Lepidoptera), which constitute important Chinese agricultural pests, was investigated both in situ in a laboratory setting and remotely using a fluorescence light detection and ranging (lidar) system operating at a range of about 50 m. The natural autofluorescence of different species, as well as the fluorescence from insects that had been dusted with fluorescent dye powder for identification were studied. Autofluorescence spectra of both moths and planthoppers show a maximum intensity peak around 450 nm. Bleaching upon long-time laser illumination was modest and did not affect the shape of the spectrum. A single dyed rice planthopper, a few mm in size, could be detected at 50 m distance by using the fluorescence lidar system. By employing various marking dyes, different types of agricultural pest could be determined. We suggest that lidar may be used in studies of migration and movement of pest insects, including studies of their behavior in the vicinity of pheromone traps and in pheromone-treated fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical range-resolved measurements of atmospheric pollutants were performed in a major city in southern China, employing a lidar system operating with an optical parametric oscillator transmitter. Recordings of atomic mercury (Hg) and nitric oxide (NO) absorbing in the deep-UV region were taken, yielding concentration profiles only attainable with lidar techniques. In particular, the potential influence of molecular oxygen in low-concentration mercury monitoring was elucidated. Diurnal observations are discussed and presented together with weather parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The important air pollutant sulfur dioxide has a strong structured absorption band in the ultraviolet (UV) region around 300 nm. Recently, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with structureless emission in a band about 15-nm wide in the UV region have become available. We demonstrate that they can be ideal sources for gas absorption measurements combined with the gas correlation technique, where an absorption cell with an optically thick column of the gas under investigation is used for analysing the target gas contents in a path between the LED and the measurement device. A sensitivity of 0.4 ppm sulfur dioxide was obtained with a 19-cm optical path length and 60-s integration time. Particularly compact and cost-effective monitors especially for industrial emissions can be envisaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel method to use multimode diode lasers for gas detection is demonstrated. The relationship between the intensity decay of partially absorbed multiple modes and the target gas concentration is presented. The gas concentration is retrieved by a linear-regression-based procedure applied on simultaneously recorded absorption signals in a dual-beam wavelength-modulation configuration. Signals of non-gas origin or disturbed by interfering gases are effectively eliminated by correlation analysis procedure. Light intensity fluctuations and wavelength shifts due to temperature drift are automatically compensated for. Several absorption signals can readily be obtained within a limited tuning range by overlapping the laser multimode chart with the target gas spectrum. This scheme was applied on the detection of trace acetylene mixed in ambient air, and a sensitivity of 3 ppm was achieved with a 48.5 cm path length. The trade-off between sensitivity and reliability for retrieving gas concentration by multiple absorption signals is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combustion exhaust monitoring was simulated by measurement on a sulfur dioxide flow at different temperatures using broadband absorption spectroscopy and electrochemical analysis. A linear relationship with varying rates of slope for different temperatures was found between the gas concentrations obtained using the two methods, attributed to the influence of gas volume increase and absorption line broadening. By utilizing the differential absorption at an on/off pair combined with an experimentally determined temperature correction coefficient, the sulfur dioxide concentration was evaluated with the spectroscopic method yielding a measurement precision of 4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultraviolet radiation around 302 nm was produced by sum-frequency generation in beta-barium borate employing a blue and a near-infrared diode laser. The diode-laser-based spectrometer has a mode-hop-free tuning range of 50 GHz and was used for high-resolution spectroscopic detection of sulfur dioxide. Differential measurements of several gas concentrations, at low pressure as well as at ambient atmospheric pressure, were demonstrated. The detection limit in the first implementation of the instrument was about 20 ppm m at atmospheric pressure, essentially limited by interference fringes. Methods for greatly improving this limit are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently introduced Gas in Scattering Media Absorption Spectroscopy (GASMAS) technique is applied to the study of various wood samples. Molecular oxygen in the pores of the strongly scattering material is detected using diode laser spectroscopy around 760 nm. Diffuse light propagation in these media is studied by time-dispersion measurements. Furthermore, anisotropy related to the fibre structure of wood and gas diffusion properties are studied. Promising extensions of the experiments are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]