MWIR Plume Radiance Phenomenology Technical Note

摘要

Gaseous plume detection in the LWIR (thermal infrared) region of the spectrum (7-14 μm) with the use of hyper-spectral imaging sensors is a rapidly advancing technology. There are many industrial pollutants that have unique or strong absorption/emission signatures in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR) region of the spectrum. The C-H vibrational frequency modes of hydrocarbons are clustered in the 3-4 μm region. Until recently the use of the MWIR region has been hampered, in part, by a lack of detailed and quantitative characterization of the phenomenology influencing the at-sensor radiance. The goal of this paper is to increase understanding of this phenomenology and thus the utility of the MWIR spectral region for industrial pollution monitoring applications.