Hand Held Real Time Climatic Sensor
The DOCS II desktop version will be extended to support mobile field data collection and opacity determination.
Compliance records management will still be provided by DOCS II clients. However the experience of field data
collection will be streamlined, i.e. fewer implements to carry, and automated and complete field data collection.
The HHRTCS will collect: Date and time, position of observation (source, observer, plume, sun position),
view angle, distance, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, and of course the digital images
of the visible emission.
The HHRTCS will bring more credibility and defensibility to the DOCS II opacity determinations as well as
provide a calibrated light source to the measurement. With calibrated light in the equation a more detailed
pollutant content based characterization is now possible, e.g. PM 10 and 2.5 concentrations, etc. Clearly,
calibrating the HHRTCS to characterize the plume in terms of pollutant content will require future device
evolution. However, the automated data collection package in the initial HHRTCS will easily justify its use
in the field through observation efficiency and increased data quality.
The HHRTCS’s ability to document, time, position, distance, environmental conditions in synchronicity with
digital imagery, in a small, lightweight, self powered, remote device will bring a level of emission characterization
capability to the opacity observation that removes the subjectivity concerns of Method 9 observations.
HHRTCS are being designed under a small business innovative research grant from the US Air Force. Prototype
units for testing are expected in 4/Q 2010, through field testing will is planned throughout 2011 and DOCS II
upgrade packages planned to ship in early 2012.
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