Single photon Lidar gas imagers for practical and widespread continuous methane monitoring (original) (raw)
Tunable narrow linewidth laser source for a methane lidar
2012 IEEE Aerospace Conference, 2012
We report airborne measurements of the column abundance of atmospheric methane made over an altitude range of 3-11 km using a direct detection integrated-path differential-absorption lidar with a pulsed laser emitting at 1651 nm. The laser transmitter was a tunable, seeded optical parametric amplifier pumped by a Nd:YAG laser, and the receiver used a photomultiplier detector and photon-counting electronics. The results follow the expected changes with aircraft altitude, and the measured line shapes and optical depths show good agreement with theoretical calculations.
Airborne Measurements of Atmospheric Methane Using Pulsed Laser Transmitters
2016
We report airborne measurements of the column abundance of atmospheric methane made over an altitude range of 3-11 km using a direct detection integrated-path differential-absorption lidar with a pulsed laser emitting at 1651 nm. The laser transmitter was a tunable, seeded optical parametric amplifier pumped by a Nd:YAG laser, and the receiver used a photomultiplier detector and photon-counting electronics. The results follow the expected changes with aircraft altitude, and the measured line shapes and optical depths show good agreement with theoretical calculations.
Applied Optics, 2012
We report airborne measurements of the column abundance of atmospheric methane made over an altitude range of 3-11 km using a direct detection integrated-path differential-absorption lidar with a pulsed laser emitting at 1651 nm. The laser transmitter was a tunable, seeded optical parametric amplifier pumped by a Nd:YAG laser, and the receiver used a photomultiplier detector and photon-counting electronics. The results follow the expected changes with aircraft altitude, and the measured line shapes and optical depths show good agreement with theoretical calculations.
Optical parametric technology for methane measurements
Lidar Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring XV, 2015
Atmospheric methane (CH4) is the second most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas, with approximately 25 times the radiative forcing of carbon dioxide (CO2) per molecule. Yet, lack of understanding of the processes that control CH4 sources and sinks and its potential release from stored carbon reservoirs contributes significant uncertainty to our knowledge of the interaction between carbon cycle and climate change. At Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) we have been developing the technology needed to remotely measure CH4 from orbit. Our concept for a CH4 lidar is a nadir viewing instrument that uses the strong laser echoes from the Earth's surface to measure CH4. The instrument uses a tunable, narrow-frequency light source and photon-sensitive detector to make continuous measurements from orbit, in sunlight and darkness, at all latitudes and can be relatively immune to errors introduced by scattering from clouds and aerosols. Our measurement technique uses Integrated Path Differential Absorption (IPDA), which measures the absorption of laser pulses by a trace gas when tuned to a wavelength coincident with an absorption line. We have already demonstrated ground-based and airborne CH4 detection using Optical Parametric Amplifiers (OPA) at 1651 nm using a laser with approximately 10 µJ/pulse at 5kHz with a narrow linewidth. Next, we will upgrade our OPO system to add several more wavelengths in preparation for our September 2015 airborne campaign, and expect that these upgrades will enable CH4 measurements with 1% precision (10-20 ppb).
Airborne Measurements of Atmospheric Methane Column Abundance Made Using a Pulsed IPDA Lidar
2012
We report airborne measurements of the column abundance of atmospheric methane made over an altitude range of 3-11 km using a direct detection IPDA lidar with a pulsed laser emitting at 1651 nm. The laser transmitter was a tunable, seeded optical parametric amplifier (OPA) pumped by aNd: Y AG laser and the receiver used a photomultiplier detector and photon counting electronics. The results follow the expected changes with aircraft altitude and the measured line shapes and optical depths show good agreement with theoretical calculations.
MERLIN: A French-German Space Lidar Mission Dedicated to Atmospheric Methane
Remote Sensing
The MEthane Remote sensing Lidar missioN (MERLIN) aims at demonstrating the spaceborne active measurement of atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, based on an Integrated Path Differential Absorption (IPDA) nadir-viewing LIght Detecting and Ranging (Lidar) instrument. MERLIN is a joint French and German space mission, with a launch currently scheduled for the timeframe 2021/22. The German Space Agency (DLR) is responsible for the payload, while the platform (MYRIADE Evolutions product line) is developed by the French Space Agency (CNES). The main scientific objective of MERLIN is the delivery of weighted atmospheric columns of methane dry-air mole fractions for all latitudes throughout the year with systematic errors small enough (<3.7 ppb) to significantly improve our knowledge of methane sources from global to regional scales, with emphasis on poorly accessible regions in the tropics and at high latitudes. This paper presents the MERLIN objectives, describes the methodology and the main characteristics of the payload and of the platform, and proposes a first assessment of the error budget and its translation into expected uncertainty reduction of methane surface emissions.
Remote sensing of methane with OSAS-lidar on the 2 ν 3 band Q-branch: Experimental proof
Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy, 2018
Optical sensors based on absorption spectroscopy play a central role in the detection and monitoring of atmospheric trace gases. We here present for the first time the experimental demonstration of OSAS-Lidar on the remote sensing of CH 4 in the atmosphere. This new methodology, the OSAS-Lidar, couples the Optical Similitude Absorption Spectroscopy (OSAS) methodology with a light detection and ranging device. It is based on the differential absorption of spectrally integrated signals following Beer Lambert-Bouguer law, which are range-resolved. Its novelty originates from the use of broadband laser spectroscopy and from the mathematical approach used to retrieve the trace gas concentration. We previously applied the OSAS methodology in laboratory on the 2ν 3 methane absorption band, centered at the 1665 nm wavelength and demonstrated that the OSAS-methodology is almost independent from atmospheric temperature and pressure. In this paper, we achieve an OSAS-Lidar device capable of observing large concentrations of CH 4 released from a methane source directly into the atmosphere. Comparison with a standard in-situ measurement device shows that the pathintegrated concentrations retrieved from OSAS-Lidar methodology exhibit sufficient sensitivity (2 000 ppm.m) and observational time resolution (1 s) to remotely sense methane leaks in the atmosphere. The coupling of OSAS-lidar with a wind measurement device opens the way to monitor time-resolved methane flux emissions, which is important in regards to future climate mitigation involving regional reduction of CH 4 flux emissions.
Methane measurements from space: technical challenges and solutions
Laser Radar Technology and Applications XXII, 2017
The global and regional quantification of methane fluxes and identification of its sources and sinks has been highlighted as one of the goals of the NASA 2017 Earth Science Decadal Survey. Detecting methane from space and airborne platforms with an active (laser) remote sensing instrument presents several unique technology and measurement challenges. The instrument must have a single frequency, narrow-linewidth light source, and photon-sensitive detector at the right spectral region to make continuous measurements from orbit, day and night, all seasons and at all latitudes. It must have a high signal to noise ratio and must be relatively immune to biases from aerosol/cloud scattering, spectroscopic and meteorological data uncertainties, and instrument systematic errors. At Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), in collaboration with industry, we have developed an airborne instrument to measure methane. Our instrument is a nadir-viewing lidar that uses Integrated Path Differential Absorption (IPDA), to measure methane near 1.65 µm. We sample the absorption line using multiple wavelengths from a narrow linewidth laser source and a sensitive photodetector. This measurement approach provides maximum information content about the CH4 column, and minimizes biases in the XCH4 retrieval. In this paper, we will review our progress to date and discuss the technology challenges, options and tradeoffs to measure methane from space and airborne platforms.
Lidar-based remote infrared gas sensor for monitoring anthropogenic pollution: a proof of concept
Quantum Electronics, 2020
We propose using wavelength-modulation laser absorption spectroscopy in combination with quadrature detection of scattered light for remote industrial pollution monitoring in the atmosphere with a compact lidar-based gas sensor, which can be mounted on board an unmanned aerial vehicle. The instrument can be used for detecting leaks in product pipe lines; monitoring toxic gases near landfill sites, waste incineration plants, and other hazardous man-made facilities; analysing the gas atmosphere in industrial buildings and structures; and monitoring engineering processes at a sensitivity level of tens of ppm m in gas concentration measurements at characteristic distances of tens of metres.
Sensors
We present field deployment results of a portable optical absorption spectrometer for localization and quantification of fugitive methane (CH4) emissions. Our near-infrared sensor targets the 2ν3 R(4) CH4 transition at 6057.1 cm−1 (1651 nm) via line-scanned tunable diode-laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS), with Allan deviation analysis yielding a normalized 2.0 ppmv∙Hz−1/2 sensitivity (4.5 × 10−6 Hz−1/2 noise-equivalent absorption) over 5 cm open-path length. Controlled CH4 leak experiments are performed at the METEC CSU engineering facility, where concurrent deployment of our TDLAS and a customized volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor demonstrates good linear correlation (R2 = 0.74) over high-flow (>60 SCFH) CH4 releases spanning 4.4 h. In conjunction with simultaneous wind velocity measurements, the leak angle-of-arrival (AOA) is ascertained via correlation of CH4 concentration and wind angle, demonstrating the efficacy of single-sensor line-of-sight (LOS) determination of...