Remote detection of chemical agents by infrared spectroscopy. Progress report for FY 1989.

摘要

The results presented in this report demonstrate that Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) has tremendous potential for remote detection of chemical agents and will play a significant role in treaty verification. This application is based on the ability to positively identify an agent using its IR fingerprint and quantify it using partial least square software. The objective of this first year's effort was to establish remote FTIR capabilities at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and to test it in the Lab and at remote locations. These tests determined the sensitivity of the current equipment and helped gain knowledge to design the next generation of hardware. The results obtained to date can be summarized in three areas: ambient background considerations, sensitivity, and comparison of conventional vs. remote FTIR. Ambient background consists of IR energy pulses, which are present even on a cloudless day. The pulses make data analysis more difficult to interpret because of the changing background. The sensitivity of existing equipment is at the concentration-pathlength level of 1 ppM-m. This value was determined using agent-related chemicals released in front of a brick wall. Quantitation under field and Lab conditions is usually within (plus minus)20%. The primary difference between remote and conventional FTIR is that absorption at high concentrations is more linear for conventional FTIR. This means the large body of analytical results developed for conventional FTIR can also be applied to remote detection and is directly applicable for treaty verification scenarios. 18 refs., 29 figs., 11 tabs.