Re: Barringer Airtrace and Laser Fluorosensor
AIRTRACE was developed to detect the aerosol phenomenon at high sensitivity. The equipment was operated in a low flying, twin-engine, STOL aircraft with a nose-mounted collection system capable of concentrating the atmospheric aerosol content by more than one million times. Hydrocarbons were desorbed and analyzed from this aerosol on a continuous stream basis and the concentrations were recorded digitally forty times per second. Simultaneous recordings are made of position using Loran C and GPS systems as well as measurements of humidity, air temperature, sea surface temperature, air speed and turbulence, sea surface optical characteristics, terrain clearance and magnetic field strength.
The LASER FLUORSENSOR used short high intensity UV pulse to detect at high sensitivity fluorescence in oil coated aerosols, surface slicks and water column dispersions of oil from oil spills. A high speed electronic switching technique was employed to separately discriminate for water and aerosol effects. This system was used by BHP who then developed their own system called the ALF (airborne laser fluorsensor) which I understand was fairly similar and is now offered under contract by Fugro
Any information on the history of either system in the 70's and 80' very gratefully received
Peter
