Wide-Area Mapping and Identification System for Detection of Chemical Contamination on Surfaces

The detection of chemical hazards on surfaces continues to be a challenge for the sensing community. In order to minimize risk to users, a desirable configuration is a non-contact (standoff) system, which can operate a safe distance from the hazard. A conceptual solution to this challenge is the Wide-Area Mapping and Identification (WAMId) system. The WAMId prototype breadboard combines two distinct technologies, hyperspectral imaging and standoff Raman spectroscopy, operating in tandem to locate and identify anomalous areas of interest and then presumptively identify surface contaminates. In the developed configuration, a single short to mid wave infrared (SWIR/MWIR) hyperspectral camera images a scene of interest, data is processed to locate anomalous materials and the resulting coordinates from the scene are uploaded to a gimbal control which then slews an 830 nm Raman system to perform presumptive identification measurements. In this work, we present the results of the program, to include system development, and sample testing data for three chemicals.