Hand-Held Remote Sensor of Weapon and Toxic Industrial Chemicals for Anti-Terrorism Applications

A new hand-held, lightweight, low-cost, modular, infrared remote sensor of chemical weapon agents (CWA) and toxic industrial chemicals (TIC) will be developed for anti-terrorism applications. The sensor will depend on new differential absorptionradiometer (DAR) technology that enables detection of multiple species while nearly perfectly correcting for interferences by atmospheric gases (such as water vapor) and various sources of clutter including aerosols and variations in source emissivity. Ahard-wired signal processing circuitry will provide these corrections by subtraction and normalization at exceptionally low uncertainty. A prototype of the sensor demonstrated sensitivities exceeding existing passive sensors while using low-energy, lowcost, uncooled detectors. A newly developed algorithm used to process the outputs of the multiple DARs of the sensor demonstrated significant enhancement of specificity. The simple design and user-friendly output will allow implementation of the sensorfor use by untrained personnel in domestic and military applications. When using natural IR emission, the detector will lend itself for packaging as a remote passive sensor or, when combined with an artificial source, as an in-situ sensor e.g., forprotection of public buildings. Unique NASA technology licensed exclusively to Avir will permit the extension of the sensor for imaging and for downwind hazard assessment. The sensor will be initially designed for use as a hand-held device for militarypersonnel or domestic first responders. However, its versatility, low-cost, simplicity and robustness will allow it to be quickly modified for other security applications including public facilities such as ports, ships, subway stations, trains, airports,or government buildings. Its detection speed (< 1 s) will also permit it to be used as forward looking helicopter avionics, on ground vehicles, hybridization with existing equipment such as DIAL and Fourier transform spectrometers for large field-of-viewand rapid sensing, and more. The sensor can also be packaged for non-defense applications such as detection of natural gas leaks, alcohol sensors for law enforcement applications, or electrical fire detection.