MOSPHERIC MONITORING

THE USE OF LIGHT DETECTION AND RANGING (LIDAR) SYSTEMS FOR ROUTINE MONITORING OF ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOLS AND GASES GENERATED AS A BY-PRODUCT OF ENERGY PRODUCTION AND INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING PROCESSES HAS BEEN RESTRICTED UP TO THE PRESENT TIME BY EYE-HAZARD ROBLEMS AND THE AVAILABILITY OF SIM- PLE AND RELIABLE EQUIPMENT OF MODERATE COST. DEVELOPMENT OF A RUGGED, MODERATE COST, EYE-SAFE LDAR SYSTEM TO BE USED FOR ROUTINE MONITORING OF GASEOUS AND PARTICULATE POWER PRODUCTION PRODUCTS IN THE ATMOSPHERE IS THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORT. A WAVELENGTH CONVERSION MODULE BASED ON THE PROCESS OF RAMAN SCATTERING WILL BE DEVELOPED TO GENERATE PULSES OF 1.54P.M. LIGHT USING AN ND-YAG LASER AS AN INPUT SOURCE. A REDUC- TION OF NEARLY 106 IN EYE-HAZARD POTENTIAL CAN BE REALIZED BY USE OF THE LONGER WAVELENGTH. DESIGN OF AN OPTIMIZED RAMAN CELL AND A PROTOTYPE LIDAR MONITORING SYSTEM WILL BE CARRIED OUT DURING PHASE I OF THE PROGRAM.