6
Research Areas to Support the Test Protocols for Standoff Detectors
The committee believes that there is a lack of information and data to fully support the proposed test protocols outlined earlier in this report. Accordingly, the committee identified the following specific areas of research that need to be addressed; results are needed for use in test protocols:
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Measure and/or calculate aerosol and droplet spectra for background, simulants, and chemical warfare agents (CWAs) as input into the uncertainty model for active detector protocol. The aerosols in these studies should include both natural and anthropogenic sources such as combustion and evaporative emissions from human activities and accidental industrial releases.
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Measure aerosol and droplet size distributions and densities resulting from various modes of delivery of chemicals. These should include simulants, CWAs, and concomitants. This will provide input for the uncertainty model for the active detector protocol.
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Establish the optimum algorithm for processing data obtained by a passive infrared sensor such as Joint Service Lightweight Standoff Chemical Agent Detector (JSLSCAD). This may be instrument specific.
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Establish the minimum number of calculation elements (algorithms, filters, networks, etc.) to process the spectral information resulting from the detector scans to ensure that “real-time” signal processing can be accomplished.
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Develop a complete uncertainty model for the active (lidar) detector system. This capability will be useful to generate background types in the laboratory chamber.
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Develop techniques to generate aerosols and droplets in appropriate laboratory chambers that are representative of the size and density distributions expected from various CWA delivery modalities.
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Develop new simulants that resemble known CWAs in their spectral and physical properties but with low toxicity. Oligomeric variations of simulants may provide an avenue to permit systematic variations in such properties that can be evaluated for standoff detector evaluation and testing.
