Potential NASA Commercial Applications: The primary NASA need for this technology is to measure spectrally resolved light absorption by atmospheric aerosols for its Airborne Measurement program. At present, aerosol light absorption is measured by collecting sample on a filter subtract and measuring light extinction and scattering of the collected samples during the airborne measurements. This method suffers from a number of intrinsic errors. The proposed DPAS technique will be far more sensitive than the filter-based techniques, and is capable of providing 1s data acquisition measurement. Additionally, past NASA programs such as EXCAVATE, APEX, UNA-UNA, and AAFEX have had as a major focus, on the measurement of black carbon emissions from civilian aircraft engines. Since mass absorption coefficient of black carbon is known at several visible wavelengths, the proposed DPAS aerosol absorption monitor can be used as a black carbon emission monitor.
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