Relationships and Transformations Between Concentration-Path-Length (CL), Agents Containing Particles per Liter of Air (ACPLA), and the Number of Spores (N spores)

摘要

Threat levels and detection objectives are usually given as Agent- Containing-Particles per Liter of Air (ACPLA) where agents can be taken as spores (microbes, toxins, viruses) that are "stuck" together to form an aggregate (super) particle characterized by the size distribution and the packing efficiency of the agents. The number of agents (spores), Nspores, in ACPLA is of interest for assessing the pathogenic level of threat. Most standoff sensors measure mass-column-density (Concentration-path-Length) CL that is the integrated mass of the spores along the detection path-Length. This study explores the relationships between ACPLA, Nspores, and CL and outlines a computational procedure with examples of different types of bacteria and spores.