Development and testing of a hyper-spectral imaging instrument for standoff chemical detection

Standoff detection, identification and quantification of chemicals require sensitive spectrometers with calibration capabilities. Recent developments in LWIR focal plane arrays combined with the mastering of Fourier-Transform Spectrometer technology allow the realization of an imaging spectrometer specifically designed for chemical imaging. The spectral and radiometric calibration of the instrument enables the processing of the data to detect the chemicals with spectral signatures in the 8-12 mum region. Spectral images are processed and the contrast between different pixels is used to map the chemicals. Telops has built a field-portable instrument. This paper presents some details about the design of this state-of-the-art sensor. Performance and test results are also presented along with results from a field test.