Mobile gas and chemical imaging camera

An infrared (IR) imaging system for imaging a target species in an object, the imaging system comprising:

• an optical system including an optical focal plane array (FPA), the optical system having components defining at least two optical channels thereof, said at least two optical channels being spatially and spectrally different from one another, each of the at least two optical channels positioned to transfer IR radiation incident on the optical system towards the optical FPA;
• and
• a processing unit containing a processor that can be configured to acquire multispectral optical data representing said target species from the IR radiation received at the optical FPA,
• wherein said data acquisition and processing module has a volume of less than 300 cubic inches.

A method of identifying a target species or quantifying or characterizing a parameter of the target species in an object, the method comprising:

• wearing or carrying a data acquisition and processing module, the data acquisition and processing module comprising an optical system and a processing unit in communication with the optical system, the optical system including an optical focal plane array (FPA) unit;
• capturing multispectral infrared (IR) image data at the FPA unit from at least two optical channels that are spatially and spectrally different from one another;
• and
• acquiring multispectral optical data representing the target species from the IR radiation received at the FPA.