Tunable Ultraviolet LIDAR

摘要

In recent history, manmade and natural events have shown us the ever-present need for systems to monitor the troposphere for contaminates. These contaminants may take either a chemical or biological form, which determines the methods we use to monitor them. Monitoring the troposphere for biological contaminants is of particular interest to my organization. Whether manmade or natural, contaminants of a biological origin contain aromatic amino acids that autofluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet radiation. This establishes the basis of the laser-induced fluoresence (LIF) technique we use to detect biological contaminants. This technique is employed in point and remote detection shcemes and is a valuable tool for discriminating proteinaceous from non-proteinaceous aerosols.