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US 4,560,275 AGranted
Portable instant display and analysis reflectance spectrometer
AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorAlexander F. H. Goetz
Life of this patent
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AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorAlexander F. H. Goetz
Estimating the term…
A portable analysis spectrometer (10) for field mineral identification is coupled to a microprocessor (11) and memory (12) through a bus (13) and A/D converter (14) to display (16) a spectrum of reflected radiation in a band selected by an adjustable band spectrometer (20) and filter (23). A detector array (21) provides output signals at spaced frequencies within the selected spectrometer band which are simultaneously converted to digital form for display. The spectrum displayed is compared with a collection of spectra for known minerals. That collection is stored in memory and selectively displayed with the measured spectrum, or stored in a separate portfolio. In either case, visual comparison is made. Alternatively, the microprocessor may use an algorithm to make the comparisons in search for the best match of the measured spectrum with one of the stored spectra to identify the mineral in the target area.
A method for providing field identification of particular reflecting materials in mineral formations by identification of a high resolution reflectance spectrum in a selected wavelength section using a spectrometer and an array of detectors for measuring reflectance in narrow contiguous intervals in order to provide a continuous spectrum measurement over the selected section, each selected section being chosen for a particular spectral characteristic of a material of interest, comprising the steps of storing characteristics spectra over selected wavelength sections for each of a group of particular reflecting materials, selecting a wavelength section of reflectance to be analyzed in the field by measurement of light at different wavelengths within said section using said spectrometer and array of detectors thereby to obtain a reflectance spectrum, and comparing said reflectance spectrum with individual ones of said stored characteristic spectra to determine which best matches said reflectance spectrum, thus identifying a particular material in said mineral formation giving rise to the reflectance spectrum in a selected section.
Apparatus for providing field identification of particular reflecting materials in minerals formations by identification of reflectance spectrum in a selected wavelength section using a spectrometer meter and an array of detectors, each section being chosen for a particular spectral characteristic of a material of interest selected from a group for which reflectance spectra are stored for comparison, comprising means for selecting from predetermined wavelength sections a series of contiguous narrow wavelength intervals of reflectance to be analyzed by measurement of light at said series of contiguous narrow wavelength intervals within said section using said spectrometer and array of detectors, means for simultaneously measuring reflectance detected by each detector of said array thereby to obtain a high resolution reflectance spectrum, and means for comparing said reflectance spectrum with individual ones of said stored spectra to determine which best matches said reflectance spectrum, thus identifying a particular material in said mineral formation giving rise to the reflectance measured at a selected section reflectance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.