The invention relates to a remote sensing device comprising a detector with a predefined field of view (FOV); and an emitter emitting pulses of light with an overall divergence angle θ.sub.div in the retinal hazard region which further comprises at least one diffuser wherein the divergence angle after the diffuser is θ.sub.0; and at least one lens configured to transform the light from said diffuser to a determined divergence angle matching the FOV of the detector, or to a virtual image of predefined size appropriate in magnitude given the divergence in order to ensure the most restrictive position regarding eye-safety to be at the same position for pulsed and (quasi-)continuous wave operation; and to emit the transformed light. The invention further discloses a smartphone comprising such a remote sensing device characterized by its improved eye-safety properties for myopic people.

A detector device for the remote analysis of materials, in particular hazardous materials, including at least one laser, which is designed to emit pulsed laser light onto a sample located at a detection distance, and a telescope, which is designed to collect and/or focus laser light scattered on the sample and to forward the scattered laser light into an optical spectrometer. The optical spectrometer is designed for a spectral analysis of the laser light scattered on the sample. The laser is followed by a first beam path with a first reference beam and an additional beam path with a second reference beam for the scattered laser light. A unit is provided for determining a time difference between pulses of the first reference beam and pulses of the second reference beam, wherein the detection distance can be determined from the time difference. The unit is designed to determine the detection distance in real-time.

A multi-point detection system includes one or more light sources, one or more light sensors, and a controller. The light sources are configured to emit an array of collimated light beams, and the light sensors define an array of lines of view. Each of the lines of view intersect different ones of the collimated light beams at respective detection nodes. The light sensors are operable to emit sensor signals responsive to received scattered light from interaction of the collimated light beams with an analyte at the detection nodes. The controller is connected to receive the sensor signals and configured to determine from the scattered light whether the analyte contains a contaminant.

A measurement system is provided with an array of laser diodes with one or more Bragg reflectors. At least a portion of the light generated by the array is configured to penetrate tissue comprising skin. A detection system configured to: measure a phase shift, and a time-of-flight, of at least a portion of the light from the array of laser diodes reflected from the tissue relative to the portion of the light generated by the array; generate one or more images of the tissue; detect oxy- or deoxy-hemoglobin in the tissue; non-invasively measure blood in blood vessels within or below a dermis layer within the skin; measure one or more physiological parameters based at least in part on the non-invasively measured blood; and measure a variation in the blood or physiological parameter over a period of time.

An apparatus for measuring retro-reflectivity of a target object in an outdoor environment includes a modulator to modulate a first optical signal based on a specified modulation value, an optical emitter, coupled to the modulator, to emit the first optical signal along an optical path towards the target object, and an optical detector positioned collinearly with respect to the optical emitter. The optical detector detects a second optical signal that is retro-reflected from the target object. The apparatus includes a lock-in amplifier coupled to the modulator and the optical detector. The lock-in amplifier receives a first electrical signal from the modulator and a second electrical signal from the optical detector, and generates, based on the first electrical signal and the second electrical signal, a third electrical signal indicative of the retro-reflectivity of the target object.

The present disclosure refers to a system for monitoring emissions. The system comprises an appliance with a mobile emission monitoring platform configured to identify and quantify a gas emission; an optional rangefinder configured to determine a size of a gas emission plume and a velocity of the gas emission plume; and an imaging device configured to provide an image. The appliance is mounted to an extendable mast on, for example, a trailer such that the system may provide mobile and continuous monitoring of emissions.

Measurement apparatuses and methods are disclosed for generating high-precision and -accuracy gas concentration maps that can be overlaid with 3D topographic images by rapidly scanning one or several modulated laser beams with a spatially-encoded transmitter over a scene to build-up imagery. Independent measurements of the topographic target distance and path-integrated gas concentration are combined to yield a map of the path-averaged concentration between the sensor and each point in the image. This type of image is particularly useful for finding localized regions of elevated (or anomalous) gas concentration making it ideal for large-area leak detection and quantification applications including: oil and gas pipeline monitoring, chemical processing facility monitoring, and environmental monitoring.

A method for vicarious spatial characterization of a remote sensor system. The method includes detecting, via the remote sensor system, radiation reflected from at least one body of water corresponding to a plurality of point reflector images, selecting a set of point reflector images from the plurality of point reflector images, the selected set of point reflector images corresponding to sub-pixel point reflector images, analyzing the selected set of point reflector images by executing an algorithm for fitting the point reflector images to obtain a point spread function of the remote sensor system, and determining a spatial characteristic of the remote sensor system based on the point spread function.

A method for retrieving a corrected spectrum from a measured spectrum (e.g., retrieving a top-of-water spectrum from a measured top-of-atmosphere spectrum) includes creating a scene-specific model of a region of interest and performing a ray-tracing simulation to simulate rays of light that would reach an airborne (or spaceborne) sensor. The region of interest can be an optically complex area such as an inland or coastal body of water. Based on the ray-tracing simulation, a scene-specific correction for unwanted effects (e.g., adjacency effects, variable atmospheric conditions, and/or other suitable effects) is obtained. A corrected spectrum is obtained by correcting the measured spectrum using the scene-specific correction. The ray-tracing simulation may be performed using a graphical processing unit, allowing the scene-specific correction to be performed in real time or near real time.

A method of detecting natural gas releases that includes the step of traversing a target area with a gas-filter correlation radiometer having a field of view oriented towards the target area. The gas-filter correlation radiometer receives reflected radiation in a passband from the target area and produces gas-filter correlation radiometer signals from the received reflected radiation. A surface reflectivity spectral profile of the target area is determined. The presence of methane in the target area is then determined based upon the received reflected radiation and the surface reflectivity spectral profile of the target area.