Environmental Monitoring Technologies

Six defense-related technologies that appear to have application to environmental monitoring are reviewed. Thermal imaging of the sort used in heat seeking missiles provides a means of rapidly surveying an area for possible presence of pollutants. A compact wedge filter spectrometer can be used to remotely determine the spatial distribution of classes of pollutants, while a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer has been shown to identify specific pollutants at distances of seven kilometers. A remote active spectrometer using tunable carbon dioxide (CO₂) lasers has been shown to give accurate results at 3.5 kilometers; this capability can be extended to the near IR region by using upconversion lasers. A fiber optic evanescent wave liquid level sensor is described that may find application as a leak detector for underground storage tanks.