System and method for optically determining properties of hot fluids from the spectral structure of emitted radiation

A method of remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• collecting emitted thermal radiation over a field of view including the hot fluid;
• resolving, using a spectrograph, at least a portion of the emission spectrum from the collected radiation;
• decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures;
• and
• determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid.

A method of remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• collecting emitted thermal radiation over a field of view including the hot fluid;
• resolving the emission spectrum in the infrared spectral range of 1.5-13 microns from the collected radiation;
• decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures;
• and
• determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid.

A method of remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• collecting emitted thermal radiation over a field of view including the hot fluid;
• resolving at least a portion of the emission spectrum from the collected radiation;
• decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures;
• and
• determining, by comparing the relative amounts of basis spectra for at least two different species to determine the concentrations, the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid.

A method of remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• collecting emitted thermal radiation over a field of view including the hot fluid;
• resolving at least a portion of the emission spectrum from the collected radiation;
• decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures, wherein the basis spectra are predetermined based on the known emissivity spectrum of each species and the Planck black body function, and wherein the basis spectra are normalized to remove the wavelength independent aspects of the emission intensity but retain the characteristic spectral shape;
• and
• determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid.

A method of remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• collecting emitted thermal radiation over a field of view including the hot fluid;
• resolving the emission spectrum in the range of 600-1700 nm from the collected radiation;
• decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures;
• and
• determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid.

A method of remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• collecting emitted thermal radiation over a field of view including the hot fluid;
• resolving at least a portion of the emission spectrum from the collected radiation;
• decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures;
• determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid;
• and
• using at least one of the determined temperature and species make-up to control one or more inputs to the hot fluid.

A method of remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• collecting emitted thermal radiation over a plurality of fields of view including the hot fluid to determine a spatial profile of the hot fluid;
• resolving at least a portion of the emission spectrum from the collected radiation;
• decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures;
• and
• determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid.

A system for remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• at least one passive optical probe for collecting emitted thermal radiation over a field of view including the hot fluid;
• an instrument for resolving at least a portion of the emission spectrum from the collected radiation;
• means for decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures, wherein the basis spectra are predetermined based on the known emissivity spectrum of each species and the Planck black body function, and wherein the basis spectra are normalized to remove the wavelength independent aspects of the emission intensity but retain the characteristic spectral shape;
• and
• means for determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid.

A system for remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• at least one passive optical probe for collecting emitted thermal radiation over a field of view including the hot fluid;
• an instrument for resolving at least a portion of the emission spectrum from the collected radiation;
• means for decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures;
• and
• means for determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid, wherein the means for determining relative concentrations comprises means for comparing the relative amounts of basis spectra for at least two different species.

A system for remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• at least one passive optical probe for collecting emitted thermal radiation over a field of view including the hot fluid;
• a spectrograph for resolving at least a portion of the emission spectrum from the collected radiation;
• means for decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures;
• and
• means for determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid.

A system for remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• at least one passive optical probe for collecting emitted thermal radiation over a field of view including the hot fluid;
• an instrument for resolving the emission spectrum in the infrared spectral range of 1.5-13 microns from the collected radiation;
• means for decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures;
• and
• means for determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid.

A system for remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• at least one passive optical probe for collecting emitted thermal radiation over a field of view including the hot fluid;
• an instrument for resolving the emission spectrum in the range of 600-1700 nm from the collected radiation;
• means for decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures;
• and
• means for determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid.

A system for remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• at least one passive optical probe for collecting emitted thermal radiation over a field of view including the hot fluid;
• an instrument for resolving at least a portion of the emission spectrum from the collected radiation;
• means for decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures;
• means for determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid;
• and
• means, responsive to at least one of the determined temperature and species make-up, for controlling one or more inputs to the hot fluid.

A system for remotely determining at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, a hot fluid, based on the spectral structure of radiation emitted from the fluid, comprising:

• a plurality of passive optical probes each of which collects emitted thermal radiation from at least one field of view including the hot fluid, to determine a spatial profile of the hot fluid;
• an instrument for resolving at least a portion of the emission spectrum from the collected radiation;
• means for decomposing the resolved emission spectrum into a combination of basis spectra that are characteristic of specific emitting species and emitter temperatures;
• and
• means for determining, from the relative amounts of at least two basis spectra, at least one of the temperature of, and the relative concentrations of species making up, the hot fluid.