Radial Plume Mapping: New optical scanning method improves air quality monitoring

In 2006, UW TechTransfer licensed a unique technology for mapping air pollution to Arcadis, an international environmental remediation and engineering firm. The patented technology, referred to as Radial Plume Mapping, accurately maps a wide range of air pollutants from landfills, chemical plants, refineries, and many other emission sources.

The concept and technique were developed by Professor Michael Yost in the UW Department of Environmental Health, and Ram Hashmonay, a former UW postdoctoral researcher who subsequently joined Arcadis. It combines optical remote sensing (ORS) technology with a new radial scanning technique.

Current ORS systems use multiple instruments to send out intersecting beams of light along fixed paths. These systems can determine only the average level of concentration over the fixed paths, and cannot identify areas of high concentration (“hot spots”) or low concentration. The new method is highly sensitive, less expensive, and faster, and maps high and low levels of pollutants.

Using a single instrument, the new method uses multiple non-overlapping paths of light the scan the region of interest in a radial fashion at distances up to a kilometer from the instrument. It accurately identifies and measures the concentrations of multiple contaminants simultaneously, and maps the movement of the contaminant cloud. Computer analysis of the remote data in near real time can create an animated image of the moving cloud, which can then be used to predict its path and concentration levels.

Radial plume mapping recently received endorsement from the Environmental Protection Agency. Hashmonay continues to identify new applications of the technology, such as detecting and monitoring ammonia levels from animal feeding areas, hydrogen fluoride emissions from cooling lagoons, and biohazards for homeland security applications.

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