Method of scanning a lidar system for gas detection

Abstract

A lidar system for detection of a gas comprises an optical transceiver for transmitting and receiving optical radiation and an optical beam scanner. The optical beam scanner comprises a plurality of prisms and a plurality of drive motors, wherein each of the drive motors may rotationally drive the respective one of the prisms. A method of operating the system comprises performing spatially scanned measurements of the gas across a field of view, and analyzing the measurements to determine locations where the gas is present in a concentration above a threshold value (an excess value). Based on the determined locations, an adjusted field of view is determined and spatially scanned measurements of the gas are performed across the adjusted system field of view to obtain measurements at higher spatial resolution. The method may be used for the detection of greenhouse gasses, such as methane (CH4).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.