Laser radar for wide-area fire detection

Alphonsus John Fennelly; Edward L. Fry; Muamer Zukic; Michele M. Wilson; Douglas G. Torr

doi:10.1117/12.188152

23 September 1994 Laser radar for wide-area fire detection

Alphonsus John Fennelly, Edward L. Fry, Muamer Zukic, Michele M. Wilson, Douglas G. Torr

Proceedings Volume 2271, Industrial Applications of Laser Radar; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.188152
Event: SPIE's 1994 International Symposium on Optics, Imaging, and Instrumentation, 1994, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

A Lidar system designed by the authors to detect and observe the tracks of effluents emitted by ships at sea under propulsion by combustion of fossil fuels could have many useful applications. A prototype system uses a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser as the transmitter, at wavelengths of 0.53 and 1.06 micrometers , and examine the return for Rayleigh, Mie, fluorescence, and Raman scattering (hence called Advanced Rayleigh-Raman-Mie, ARRM), to determine thermodynamic and chemical conditions out to a given distance surrounding the Lidar operating station. We discuss the business potential of the system, its application to a number of technical and environmental problems, the potential for job creation by the use of such systems, and their value to both the users and the rest of society. One such application is discussed to a limited extent: wide-area surveillance for fire detection, in both urban and rural applications. Conversations with the City of Huntsville's Fire Department have revealed that the system is a quantum leap in fire detection, reporting, and hence firefighting response. Constant motion through the sky of a beam of green light could be a public nuisance. Therefore in an urban setting use of a primary surveillance transmitter consisting of a frequency-doubled CO2 laser is necessary for initial detection of the thermodynamic and fluid-dynamic indications of the rising plume, from the Mie and Rayleigh scattering. After each detection of a new plume, the system switches to the Nd:YAG transmitter for detailed characterization of the plume from the measured ARRM parameters.

Citation Download Citation

Alphonsus John Fennelly, Edward L. Fry, Muamer Zukic, Michele M. Wilson, and Douglas G. Torr "Laser radar for wide-area fire detection", Proc. SPIE 2271, Industrial Applications of Laser Radar, (23 September 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.188152

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