The product proposed here could be used to continuously monitor organic aerosols in the environment. It could log the data or send the information through a secure wireless or wired internet connection if available. This development work has very broad relevance in a number of other government and civilian applications. For example, these sensors may be used in any application for monitoring a variety of chemical targets where a premium is placed on early detection. The low cost, low power consumption and small size of this technology is expected to enable penetration of market space previously inaccessible to sensor systems.
This program effects environmental research by providing research tools to scientists who study atmospheric pollutants. This low cost miniature gas and aerosol analyzer will allow for direct measures of chemicals from a variety of polluting industries, clouds, and plumes, by providing a lightweight battery powered system that can be launched in balloons or other UAVs. When coupled with GPS, the system could be used to map plumes from many sources.
More »