In-Situ Sensor Suite for Contact-Free Characterization of Aerosol Morphology

The goal of the proposed work is to enable real-time surveillance of airborne aerosols for the identification of chemical or biological species that represent potential hazards. This requires contact-free measurement of aerosol size and morphology using compact instrumentation that is low in weight and power requirements. This limits the use of highly sophisticated analytical techniques such as scanning electron microscopy. The proposed work will advance the state of the art in contact-free characterization of airborne aerosol size and morphology using multi-view scattering and/or holography for high-resolution three-dimensional imaging. A neural network will then be trained to identify chemical and biological species based on images that embody the three-dimensional features of known aerosols. This will be accomplished initially with surrogate aerosols in the size range of 5–100 microns that are aerodynamically focused into the region of interest. Various methods of coupling multiple views into a single camera will be investigated, along with potential light sources that can achieve the necessary spatio-temporal resolution. The research program will result in the design of a robust, portable, and lightweight instrument that will be built, fielded, and commercialized during the Phase II effort.