<title>AIRIS multispectral imaging chemical sensor</title>

Abstract

The adaptive IR imaging spectroradiometer (AIRIS) is a multispectral imaging system comprising a low-order tunable Fabry-Perot etalon coupled to an IR focal plane array. This low-order interferometer based imaging system provides wide spectral coverage combined with narrow spectral bandwidth, flexible and adaptive sampling and processing of the image to isolate specific spectral features or signatures, high radiance sensitivity, and an extended field-of-view for the survey of wide areas. The adaptive sampling capability of the AIRIS sensor provides the opportunity to rapidly image a scene at only those wavelengths needed for target identification and clutter suppression. We have developed a prototype LWIR AIRIS sensor to perform passive stand-off detection of hazardous chemical vapor plumes. The imaging sensor covers the 10.0 to 11.5 micrometers region and allows identification of numerous compounds, including chemical warfare agents and simulants, on the basis of observed IR spectra. The LWIR AIRIS has a 40 X 40 deg FOV and a NESR equals 2 (mu) W cm^-2 sr^-1, resulting in a detection limit of 25 ppmv*m for DMMP against a temperature drop of 6 degrees C.