Mapping air contaminants using path-integrated optical remote sensing with a non-overlapping variable path length beam geometry
First Claim
1. A method of mapping a property associated with a sampling region using path integrated data, comprising the steps of:
- (a) defining a sampling region in which at least one property associated with said sampling region will be mapped;
(b) acquiring path integrated data for a plurality of paths within said sampling region;
(c) reiteratively generating a cumulative distribution function of said at least one property associated with said sampling region from said path integrated data; and
(d) using said cumulative distribution function to produce a map of said property for the sampling region.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Path Integrated Optical Remote Sensing (PI-ORS) instruments are used to provide Path Integrated Concentration (PIC) data corresponding to a particulate concentration in region scanned by a sequence of optical beams. Prior art methods of developing spatial concentration maps using PIC data have required a relatively large number of intersecting beam paths. The present invention can produce spatial concentration maps using considerably fewer optical beams. Preferably, a non-overlapping radial beam geometry is used to produce PIC data that are processed to produce a spatial concentration map. The PIC data are indicative of the cumulative spatial concentration distribution of the contaminant in the sampling region. Once the PIC data are obtained, a specifically developed reconstruction algorithm is applied to the PIC data to create a map of concentration or contaminants or other constituents in the sampling region. Any of several different reconstruction algorithms can be employed. In general, a method for fitting or interpolating is used to estimate the cumulative distribution function of the contaminants or constituents of interest over the sampling region from the observed PIC data. Continuous or spline functions can be used in the reconstruction algorithm. Preferably, a smooth basis function minimization (SBFM) algorithm is used to fit a superposition of the integrated basis functions to the PIC data. The evaluation of the directional derivatives for the fitted integrated (cumulative) basis functions provides the desired map of concentration values over the sampling region. Using far fewer sources and detectors than the prior art, reasonably accurate concentration mappings can be achieved.
-
Citations
43 Claims
-
1. A method of mapping a property associated with a sampling region using path integrated data, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) defining a sampling region in which at least one property associated with said sampling region will be mapped;
(b) acquiring path integrated data for a plurality of paths within said sampling region;
(c) reiteratively generating a cumulative distribution function of said at least one property associated with said sampling region from said path integrated data; and
(d) using said cumulative distribution function to produce a map of said property for the sampling region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A method of mapping contaminants within a sampling region using path integrated data, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) providing an instrument capable of generating path integrated concentration (PIC) data within said sampling region;
(b) using said instrument to acquire PIC data for a plurality of different paths within said sampling region;
(c) reiteratively generating a cumulative distribution function that fits the acquired PIC data; and
(d) using said cumulative distribution function to create a two-dimensional (2D) spatial map indicating levels of said contaminants within the sampling region. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
-
31. A system for acquiring path integrated concentration (PIC) data from within a sampling region and generating a spatial concentration map based on said PIC data, comprising:
-
(a) an instrument that emits energy along a path;
(b) at least one detector disposed so as to detect the energy emitted by said instrument, said detector producing a signal indicative of the PIC data along said path;
(c) a memory in which a plurality of machine instructions are stored; and
(d) a processor that is coupled to said at least one detector, and to said memory, said processor executing said machine instructions stored in the memory, causing the processor to implement a plurality of functions, including;
(i) identifying a plurality of paths over which energy emitted by the instrument is directed and for which PIC data is obtained;
(ii) accumulating PIC data for each path defined by the user;
(iii) generating a cumulative distribution function that fits the accumulated PIC data; and
(iv) using the cumulative distribution function to generate a spatial concentration map. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
-
-
40. A method of mapping a property associated with a sampling region using path integrated data, to enable the property to be evaluated at specific locations over the measurement path without utilizing path integrated data obtained from intersecting sampling paths, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) defining a sampling region in which at least one property associated with said sampling region will be mapped;
(b) acquiring path integrated data for a plurality of sampling paths within said sampling region, such that the plurality of sampling paths are not required to intersect in order to obtain path integrated data that can be used to evaluate the at least one property at specific locations over each of the plurality of sampling paths;
(c) reiteratively generating a cumulative distribution function of the at least one property associated with said sampling region from said path integrated data, said cumulative distribution function enabling the at least one property to be evaluated at specific locations over each of the plurality of sampling paths without evaluating an average of the at least one property over a length of each of the plurality of sampling paths; and
(d) using said cumulative distribution function to produce a map of the at least one property for the sampling region.
-
-
41. A method of mapping contaminants within a sampling region using path integrated data, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) providing an instrument capable of generating path integrated concentration (PIC) data within said sampling region;
(b) using said instrument to acquire PIC data for a plurality of different paths within said sampling region, such that none of the plurality of different paths are required to intersect in order to obtain the PIC data and so that said PIC data is usable to determine a contaminant concentration at specific locations over each of the plurality of sampling paths;
(c) reiteratively generating a cumulative distribution function that fits the acquired PIC data; and
(d) using said cumulative distribution function to create a map of said contaminants within the sampling region.
-
-
42. A method of evaluating at least one property associated with a plurality of sampling paths using path integrated data, to enable the at least one property to be evaluated at specific locations over each sampling path, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) defining a sampling region in which at least one property associated with said sampling region will be mapped;
(b) acquiring the path integrated data for a plurality of sampling paths within said sampling region; and
(c) reiteratively generating a cumulative distribution function of said at least one property associated with said sampling region from said path integrated data, said cumulative distribution function enabling the at least one property to be evaluated at specific locations over each of the plurality of sampling paths without evaluating an average of the at least one property over a length of each of the plurality of sampling paths.
-
-
43. A system for acquiring and evaluating at least one property associated with a plurality of sampling paths from within a sampling region using path integrated data, to enable the at least one property to be evaluated at specific locations over each sampling path, comprising:
-
(a) an instrument that emits energy along at least one path;
(b) at least one detector disposed so as to detect the energy emitted by said instrument, said detector producing a signal indicative of the path integrated data along said at least one path;
(c) a memory in which a plurality of machine instructions are stored; and
(d) a processor that is coupled to said at least one detector, and to said memory, said processor executing said machine instructions stored in the memory, causing the processor to implement a plurality of functions, including;
(i) identifying a plurality of paths over which energy emitted by the instrument is directed and for which path integrated data are obtained;
(ii) accumulating the path integrated data for each path identified by the user;
(iii) generating a cumulative distribution function that fits the accumulated path integrated data; and
(iv) using the cumulative distribution function to evaluate the at least one property at specific locations over each of the plurality of sampling paths.
-
Specification