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Standoff Raman Spectroscopy of Explosive Nitrates Using 785 nm Laser

Received: 27 February 2015     Accepted: 17 March 2015     Published: 24 March 2015
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Abstract

We have demonstrated that standoff Raman spectra of some nitrates could be obtained at distances ranging from 20 meters to 250 meters using an 11-inch reflecting telescope and a continuous wavelength 785 nm laser of 400 mW power coupled with a small portable spectrometer. The measurements were taken during both day and night, indoors and outdoors, for various integration times. Detection and identification of chemical and biological hazards within the forensic and homeland security contexts requires conducting the analysis in field while adapting a non-contact approach to the hazard. In this paper, we report the adequacy of a standoff Raman system with a 785nm laser for remote detection and identification of ammonium, sodium, and magnesium nitrates in bulk form. The results demonstrate that, as the standoff distances increases, there is a discernible attenuation in the intensity of the Raman signatures of the nitrates. To discriminate the background lights, improve the signal-to-noise ratio and trigger the weak characteristic bands, Raman spectra were also acquired using higher integration time. For the measurements taken at a 100 meter standoff distances, we were able to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of about 10. For greater distances, due to the difficulty of locating the target using IR laser, a 50 mW green laser pointer at 485 nm wavelength is used before the IR laser is used for acquiring the Raman signals.

Published in American Journal of Remote Sensing (Volume 3, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajrs.20150301.11
Page(s) 1-5
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Remote Sensing, Standoff Raman, Measurements of Nitrates, Raman of Explosives

References
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[4] J. C. Carter, S. M. Angel, M. L. Snyder, J.Scaffidi, R. E. Whipple and J. G. Reynolds, “Standoff detection of high explosive materials at 50 meters in ambient light conditions using a small Raman instrument,”Appl. Spect., vol. 59, no. 6, pp.769-775, 2005.
[5] J. C. Carter, J. Scaffidi, S. Burnett, B. Vasser, S. K. Sharma and S. M. Angel, “Stand-off Raman detection using dispersive and tunable filter based systems,” Spectrochimica Acta Part A, vol. 61, pp. 2288-2298, 2005.
[6] S. K. Sharma, A. K. Misra, P. G. Lucey, S. M. Angel and C. P. McKay, “Remote pulsed Raman spectroscopy of inorganic and organic materials to a radial distance of 100 meters,”Appl. Spect., vol. 60, no. 8, pp.871-876, 2006.
[7] S. K. Sharma, A. K. Misra and P. G. Lucey, “Remote Raman spectroscopic detection of minerals and organics under illuminated conditions from a distance of 10 m using a single 532 nm laser pulse,”Appl. Spect., vol. 60, no. 2, pp.223-228, 2006.
[8] E. L. Izake, “Forensic and homeland security applications of modern portable Raman spectroscopy,” Forensic Science International, vol. 202, pp. 1-8, 2010.
[9] A. Pettersson, I. Johansson, S. Wallin, M. Nordberg and H. Ostmark, “Near real time standoff detection of explosives in a realistic outdoor environment at 55m distance,” Propellants Explo.Pyrotech., vol. 34, pp.297-306, 2009.
[10] A. Pettersson, S. Wallin, H. Östmark, A. Ehlerding, I. Johansson, M. Nordberg, H. Ellis and A. Al-Khalili, “Explosives standoff detection using Raman spectroscopy: From bulk towards trace detection,” Proc. of SPIE, vol.7664, pp.76641K, 2010.
[11] S. Wallin, A. Pettersson, H. Östmarkand A. Hobro, “Laser-based standoff detection of explosives: a critical review,” Anal. Bioanal. Chem., vol. 395, pp.259-274 2009.
[12] I. Johansson, S. Wallin, M. Nordberg, A. Pettersson, A.Ehlerding and H. Östmark, “Standoff forensic analysis of explosives,”42nd International Annual Conference of ICT, 2011.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Sandra Sadate, Carlton Farley III, Aschalew Kassu, Anup Sharma. (2015). Standoff Raman Spectroscopy of Explosive Nitrates Using 785 nm Laser. American Journal of Remote Sensing, 3(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajrs.20150301.11

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    ACS Style

    Sandra Sadate; Carlton Farley III; Aschalew Kassu; Anup Sharma. Standoff Raman Spectroscopy of Explosive Nitrates Using 785 nm Laser. Am. J. Remote Sens. 2015, 3(1), 1-5. doi: 10.11648/j.ajrs.20150301.11

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    AMA Style

    Sandra Sadate, Carlton Farley III, Aschalew Kassu, Anup Sharma. Standoff Raman Spectroscopy of Explosive Nitrates Using 785 nm Laser. Am J Remote Sens. 2015;3(1):1-5. doi: 10.11648/j.ajrs.20150301.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajrs.20150301.11,
      author = {Sandra Sadate and Carlton Farley III and Aschalew Kassu and Anup Sharma},
      title = {Standoff Raman Spectroscopy of Explosive Nitrates Using 785 nm Laser},
      journal = {American Journal of Remote Sensing},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-5},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajrs.20150301.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajrs.20150301.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajrs.20150301.11},
      abstract = {We have demonstrated that standoff Raman spectra of some nitrates could be obtained at distances ranging from 20 meters to 250 meters using an 11-inch reflecting telescope and a continuous wavelength 785 nm laser of 400 mW power coupled with a small portable spectrometer. The measurements were taken during both day and night, indoors and outdoors, for various integration times. Detection and identification of chemical and biological hazards within the forensic and homeland security contexts requires conducting the analysis in field while adapting a non-contact approach to the hazard. In this paper, we report the adequacy of a standoff Raman system with a 785nm laser for remote detection and identification of ammonium, sodium, and magnesium nitrates in bulk form. The results demonstrate that, as the standoff distances increases, there is a discernible attenuation in the intensity of the Raman signatures of the nitrates. To discriminate the background lights, improve the signal-to-noise ratio and trigger the weak characteristic bands, Raman spectra were also acquired using higher integration time. For the measurements taken at a 100 meter standoff distances, we were able to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of about 10. For greater distances, due to the difficulty of locating the target using IR laser, a 50 mW green laser pointer at 485 nm wavelength is used before the IR laser is used for acquiring the Raman signals.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Standoff Raman Spectroscopy of Explosive Nitrates Using 785 nm Laser
    AU  - Sandra Sadate
    AU  - Carlton Farley III
    AU  - Aschalew Kassu
    AU  - Anup Sharma
    Y1  - 2015/03/24
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajrs.20150301.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajrs.20150301.11
    T2  - American Journal of Remote Sensing
    JF  - American Journal of Remote Sensing
    JO  - American Journal of Remote Sensing
    SP  - 1
    EP  - 5
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-580X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajrs.20150301.11
    AB  - We have demonstrated that standoff Raman spectra of some nitrates could be obtained at distances ranging from 20 meters to 250 meters using an 11-inch reflecting telescope and a continuous wavelength 785 nm laser of 400 mW power coupled with a small portable spectrometer. The measurements were taken during both day and night, indoors and outdoors, for various integration times. Detection and identification of chemical and biological hazards within the forensic and homeland security contexts requires conducting the analysis in field while adapting a non-contact approach to the hazard. In this paper, we report the adequacy of a standoff Raman system with a 785nm laser for remote detection and identification of ammonium, sodium, and magnesium nitrates in bulk form. The results demonstrate that, as the standoff distances increases, there is a discernible attenuation in the intensity of the Raman signatures of the nitrates. To discriminate the background lights, improve the signal-to-noise ratio and trigger the weak characteristic bands, Raman spectra were also acquired using higher integration time. For the measurements taken at a 100 meter standoff distances, we were able to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of about 10. For greater distances, due to the difficulty of locating the target using IR laser, a 50 mW green laser pointer at 485 nm wavelength is used before the IR laser is used for acquiring the Raman signals.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, Alabama A&M University, U.S.A.

  • Department of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, Alabama A&M University, U.S.A.

  • Department of Engineering, Construction Management and Industrial Technology, Alabama A&M University, U.S.A.

  • Department of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, Alabama A&M University, U.S.A.

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