Standoff gas identification and quantification from turbulent stack plumes with an imaging Fourier-transform spectrometer

Abstract

Benefiting from the rich amount of information provided by a hyperspectral imager such as an imaging Fourier-transform spectrometer, we developed a suite of gas quantification algorithms that were applied to identify the gas released by distant stacks, and to quantify their specific mass flow rates. The method successfully performs the gas quantification through a range of important radiometric and instrumental considerations. Interactions between the released gases and the fluctuating winds result in strong turbulences which are accounted for by a recently developed algorithm avoiding scene change artifacts, thus ensuring valid estimation of the spectral radiance emitted by the plume.