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ITT Industries Space Systems Division (Space Systems) has developed an airborne natural gas leak detection system designed to detect, image, quantify, and precisely locate leaks from natural gas transmission pipelines. This system is called the Airborne Natural Gas Emission Lidar (ANGEL) system. The ANGEL system uses a highly sensitive differential absorption Lidar technology to remotely detect pipeline leaks. The ANGEL System is operated from a fixed wing aircraft and includes automatic scanning, pointing system, and pilot guidance systems. During a pipeline inspection, the ANGEL system aircraft flies at an elevation of 1000 feet above the ground at speeds of between 100 and 150 mph. Under this contract with DOE/NETL, Space Systems was funded to integrate the ANGEL sensor into a test aircraft and conduct a series of flight tests over a variety of test targets including simulated natural gas pipeline leaks. Following early tests in upstate New York in the summer of 2004, the ANGEL system was deployed to Casper, Wyoming to participate in a set of DOE-sponsored field tests at the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC). At RMOTC the Space Systems team completed integration of the system and flew an operational system for the first time. The ANGELmore » system flew 2 missions/day for the duration for the 5-day test. Over the course of the week the ANGEL System detected leaks ranging from 100 to 5,000 scfh.« less

An airborne DIfferential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) system was used to detect methane, propane, and light crude gas vapors during real-world collections. A series of overflights were conducted at two separate test locations (Kingsville/Corpus Christi, TX and Spencerport, NY). DIAL, digital orthophotography, and video data were collected, processed and analyzed at both sites. A new Hydrocarbon Detection Algorithm (HHDA) was developed to detect gasses other than methane. The HHDA shows promise for detecting multiple species in a local area with uniform surface reflectance or known variability.