DESIGN OF A LOW-COST PORTABLE HANDHELD SPECTROMETER FOR AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH MEASUREMENTS

dc.contributor.advisorYu, Miao MYen_US
dc.contributor.authorLaRosa, Anthonyen_US
dc.contributor.departmentMechanical Engineeringen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-27T05:48:36Z
dc.date.available2022-09-27T05:48:36Z
dc.date.issued2022en_US
dc.description.abstractThe impact aerosols have on human health and the climate continues to be a central topic in scientific research. The quantification of aerosol abundance in the atmosphere is a key factor in understanding the climate, Earth’s radiative budget, and their impacts to human health. This research focuses on the development and comprehensive assessment of a handheld field instrument that measures aerosol optical thickness. The challenges associated with designing a low-cost, durable handheld system with highly sensitive electronics, which is capable of direct-sun measurements, are investigated. The thesis work can be summarized as follows. First, the electrical, mechanical, and optical integration needed for the instrument development is discussed and presented. Second, the sensitivities of a compact micro spectrometer are analyzed in both the laboratory and field deployment studies. The spectrometer and the fully integrated instrument are characterized in terms of its spectral resolution, sensitivity, thermal characteristics, and stability. Finally, after successful performance characterization, the capabilities of the instrument for field measurements are explored by taking direct sun measurements. The results demonstrate that the instrument has great potential to be used as a rigorous scientific device or a citizen science, educational instrument for aerosol optical depth measurements.en_US
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.13016/50yq-phhl
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/29407
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledEngineeringen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledElectrical engineeringen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledOpticsen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledaerosolen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledCMOSen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledsensoren_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledspectrometeren_US
dc.titleDESIGN OF A LOW-COST PORTABLE HANDHELD SPECTROMETER FOR AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH MEASUREMENTSen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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