Detection of Liquids on Surfaces using Long Wave Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging Spectroradiometer

Chemical warfare agents with their low vapor pressure can stay on a surface for long periods of time and pose a serious threat to anyone coming into contact with the surface. A standoff sensor that can visualize and identify such a threat is of greatinterest to the US military.Pacific Advanced Technology (PAT) has a technology with the capability of standoff detection and the potential for identification of these chemical agents on different surfaces. However, the phenomenology is not well understood and work needs to be doneto better characterize and analyze these threatening agents on different surfaces with different illumination conditions.PAT, during this Phase I effort, has demonstrated that chemical agent simulants have different spectral signatures than interferants, such as motor oil and water, in the longwave (8 to 11 microns) infrared spectral region. During Phase II, a hyperspectralimaging system with a cooled detector array, coupled to embedded real time processing of the hyperspectral image, will be developed. Numerous data collections of various types of simulants and interferants under different illumination, and incident angleimaging, allow a better understanding of the phenomenology and thus enable the fielding of instruments that are highly reliable for this application. A handheld Chemical/Biological warfare remote imaging system that is being developed for this program can be used for gas phase detection, such as bio-aerosols and gas phase chemical warfare agents as well. It can be applied to the commercial market forgas leak detection in gas, oil and chemical refineries. In addition, it can be used to monitor gas pipeline leaks.