Novel Approaches to Chemical Identification in Aerosols: PICARD Program Overview
SHERRIE PILKINGTON,
IARPA Abstract Number: 188
Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods
AbstractThe PICARD program (Pursuing Intelligent Complex Aerosols for Rapid Detection) aims to develop fieldable sensing platforms for the rapid chemical identification of aerosol particles in plumes. The program addresses both point detection (in situ) and standoff capabilities that focus on the complexity of aerosols with non-uniform sizes, morphologies, and chemical composition as well as dispersion in challenging environments. The goal of PICARD is to advance the state of the art for aerosol detection with respect to physics, chemistry, and environmental challenges.
Aerosol particles often have complex physical structures with hazardous chemicals of interest adhered to, encapsulated by, or shielded by environmentally common species such as dust, pollen, or water. In real-world environments, these common species may mask a critical or harmful signal both chemically and physically. There are several types of hazardous chemicals that may be aerosolized. These include toxic industrial chemicals, pollutants, chemical weapons, explosives, and biological toxins. Identification of specific compounds may be difficult due to the number of similar analogues that exist (e.g., there are over 1400 fentanyl analogues found in scientific literature, with hundreds of millions theoretically possible). Finally, the environment where aerosols occur plays an important role in their form, lifetime, and reaction dynamics. The environmental factors include temperature variations, humidity, wind speed and direction, topographical features, and background chemistry.
In this presentation, I will describe multiple approaches currently being pursued by the PICARD program and how they are innovating aerosol collection, sensing, and analysis. I will also discuss methods for quantitatively evaluating the technology and generating reproducible, complex environments for testing.