Environmental monitoring using optical techniques

Abstract

An overview of optical techniques for environmental monitoring is presented. Range-resolved measurements of atmospheric pollutants can be performed using the differential absorption lidar technique. Fluorescence lidar allows assessment of vegetation status and also the conditions of the facades of historical buildings. Diode lasers provide particularly realistic schemes for atmospheric gas analysis, where certain wavelength ranges, which are not easily directly assessed, can be reached by sum-and difference frequency generation. Finally, the gas correlation principle can be used for real-time imaging of hydrocarbons. Several types of such optical environmental monitoring are illustrated with examples from research at the Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden.