False alarm mitigation in hyperspectral detection of gaseous chemicals using knowledge of chemical library and residuals

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d20002967

Remote sensing of chemical vapors with hyperspectral imaging devices plays an important part in many civilian and military applications. The EPA uses hyperspectral imaging to monitor the chemical vapor output from smoke stacks while the military uses it for detection of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) in the battleeld. Detection algorithms have been studied for decades now but a major limitation thus far has been the library of signatures available. In previous years, the signature libraries have been of very good quality but because of the effort needed per signature, only a handful of chemical plume signatures were available. On the other hand, reducing the resolution allowed for having a much more expansive set of signatures, but the quality of each signature becomes significantly worse. In recent years, the technology to create high resolution chemical vapor signatures have become available, increasing the size and quality of the hyperspectral signature libraries.