PORTABLE UV LASER-INDUCED FLUORESCENCE IMAGING SENSOR

A PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING LASER-INDUCED FLUORESCENCE AS A MEANS OF DETECTING CHEMICAL AGENTS. TARGET IDENTIFICATION WILL BE ACHIEVED BY USING AN INTENSIFIED VIDEO CAMERA TO CAPTURE FLUORESCENCE IMAGES GENERATED WHEN A UV LASER ILLUMINATES THE TARGET VOLUME. THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL ADDRESS THE LASER TRANSMITTER, RECEIVER, VIDEO CAMERA, IMAGE PROCESSING AND SYSTEM INTEGRATION ISSUES LEADING TO A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A PORTABLE SYSTEM. THE SENSOR WILL BE BASED ON AN ELEVEN (11) POUND, COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE, DIODE-PUMPED SOLID-STATE LASER. THE LASER IS A TRIPLED, ND:YAG DEVICE, OPERATING AT 355 NM, AND WILL BE USED AS THE TRANSMITTER OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM. STUDIES OF LASER-INDUCED FLUORESCENCE FROM LABORATORY SAMPLES WILL BE CARRIED OUT TO CHARACTERIZE FLUORESCENCE SPECTRA AND EFFICIENCY. THIS DATA WILL BE INCLUDED IN A SIGNAL-TO-NOISE MODEL WHICH WILL PREDICT THE EXPECTED IMAGING PERFORMANCE OF THE SENSOR AS A FUNCTION OF SYSTEM PARAMETERS AND TARGET RANGE. THE SIGNAL-TO-NOISE PREDICTIONS AND SIZE AND WEIGHT ESTIMATES WILL BE THE PRIMARY CRITERIA TO ESTABLISH FEASIBILITY OF THE PROPOSED IMAGING SENSOR. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL LEAD TO A NEW CAPABILITY IN IMAGING OF FLUORESCENT RETURNS FROM MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL TARGETS. EXAMPLES INCLUDE NARCOTIC CULTIVATION AND PRODUCTION, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS, MILITARY VEHICLES, CAMOUFLAGE, OIL SLICKS ON OCEANS, ENVIRONMENTALLY HAZARDOUS EMISSIONS, AND AGRICULTURAL PHENOMENA SUCH AS DROUGHT AND DISEASE. KEY WORDS - LASER-LNDUCED FLUORESCENCE, IMAGING SENSOR, UV LASERS.