Biomedical subjects

Avishai Ben-David

Publications and source records attributed to Avishai Ben-David.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Radiative transfer model for aerosols in infrared wavelengths for passive remote sensing applications.

A comprehensive analytical radiative transfer model for isothermal aerosols and vapors for passive infrared remote sensing applications (ground-based and airborne sensors) has been developed. The theoretical model illustrates the qualitative difference between an aerosol cloud and a chemical vapor cloud. The model is based on two and two/four stream approximations and includes thermal emission-absorption by the aerosols; scattering of diffused sky radiances incident from all sides on the aerosols (downwelling, upwelling, left, and right); and scattering of aerosol thermal emission. The model uses moderate resolution transmittance ambient atmospheric radiances as boundary conditions and provides analytical expressions for the information on the aerosol cloud that is contained in remote sensing measurements by using thermal contrasts between the aerosols and diffused sky radiances. Simulated measurements of a ground-based sensor viewing Bacillus subtilis var. niger bioaerosols and kaolin aerosols are given and discussed to illustrate the differences between a vapor-only model (i.e., only emission-absorption effects) and a complete model that adds aerosol scattering effects.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Improving the linearity of infrared diffuse reflection spectroscopy data for quantitative analysis: an application in quantifying organophosphorus contamination in soil.

Diffuse reflection data are presented for ethyl methylphosphonate in a fine Utah dirt sample as a model system for organophosphate-contaminated soil. The data revealed a chemometric artifact when the spectra were represented in Kubelka-Munk units that manifests as a linear dependence of spectral peak height on variations in the observed baseline position (i.e., the position of the observed transmission intensity where no absorption features occur in the sample spectrum). We believe that this artifact is the result of the mathematical process by which the raw data are converted into Kubelka-Munk units, and we developed a numerical strategy for compensating for the observed effect and restoring chemometric precision to the diffuse reflection data for quantitative analysis while retaining the benefits of linear calibration afforded by the Kubelka-Munk approach. We validated our Kubelka-Munk correction strategy by repeating the experiment using a simpler system--pure caffeine in potassium bromide. The numerical preprocessing includes conventional multiplicative scatter correction coupled with a baseline offset correction that facilitates the use of quantitative diffuse reflection data in the Kubelka-Munk formalism for the quantitation of contaminants in a complex soil matrix, but is also applicable to more fundamental diffuse reflection quantitative analysis experiments.

Linear Models↗

PubMed2005

Comparison between orthogonal subspace projection and background subtraction techniques applied to remote-sensing data.

The basic measurement equation r = B + alphad + n is solved for alpha (the weight or abundance of the spectral target vector d) by two methods: (a) by subtracting the stochastic spectral background vector B from the spectral measurement's vector r (subtraction solution) and (b) by orthogonal subspace projection (OSP) of the measurements to a subspace orthogonal to B (the OSP solution). The different geometry of the two solutions and in particular the geometry of the noise vector n is explored. The angular distribution of the noise angle between B and n is the key factor for determining and predicting which solution is better. When the noise-angle distribution is uniform, the subtraction solution is always superior regardless of the orientation of the spectral target vector d. When the noise is more concentrated in the direction orthogonal to B, the OSP solution becomes better (as expected). Simulations and one-dimensional hyperspectral measurements of vapor concentration in the presence of background radiation and noise are given to illustrate these two solutions.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Noise assessment of a Fourier transform infrared spectroradiometer subject to the stability of a conventional laboratory blackbody source.

A method is described for the measurement of the noise-equivalent spectral radiance (NESR) of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroradiometers at all wave numbers of a selected range. The method requires minimal detailed knowledge of the sensor and no support equipment beyond a blackbody source. The NESRs of the FTIR spectroradiometer are determined at every wave-number increment in the 700-1300 cm(-1) range, for six resolutions, with a conventional blackbody source and ensembles of differential spectra. The NESRs are well behaved and consistent with the expected dependence on resolution; however, they depend on source temperature at the highest (1 cm(-1)) and lowest (32 cm(-1)) resolutions, with little or no statistical dependence at intermediate resolutions. Residual source drift is shown to be the likely cause of the dependence at 1 cm(-1); the dependence on the source at 32 cm(-1) resolution is shown to be most probably due to photon noise. At intermediate resolutions the sensor noise is dominant.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Detection, identification, and estimation of biological aerosols and vapors with a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer.

Two experiments were conducted with a Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer. The purpose of the first experiment was to detect and identify Bacillus subtilis subsp. niger (BG) bioaerosol spores and kaolin dust in an open-air release for which the thermal contrast between the aerosol temperature and background brightness temperature is small. The second experiment estimated the concentration of a small amount of triethyl phosphate (TEP) vapor in a closed chamber in which an external blackbody radiation source was used and where the thermal contrast was large. The deduced BG (TEP) extinction spectrum (identification) showed an excellent match to the library BG (TEP) extinction spectrum. Analysis of the time sequence of the measurements coincided well with the presence (detection) of the BG during the measurements, and the estimated concentration of time-dependent TEP vapor was excellent. The data were analyzed with hyperspectral detection, identification, and estimation algorithms. The algorithms were based on radiative transfer theory and statistical signal-processing methods. A subspace orthogonal projection operator was used to statistically subtract the large thermal background contribution to the measurements, and a robust maximum-likelihood solution was used to deduce the target (aerosol or vapor cloud) spectrum and estimate its mass-column concentration. A Gaussian-mixture probability model for the deduced mass-column concentration was computed with an expectation-maximization algorithm to produce the detection threshold, the probability of detection, and the probability of false alarm. The results of this study are encouraging, as they suggest for the first time to the authors' knowledge the feasibility of detecting biological aerosols with passive FTIR sensors.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Optimized differential absorption radiometer for remote sensing of chemical effluents.

A differential absorption radiometer sensor that was optimized for near-perfect (to approximately 2%) correction of the absorption by ambient atmospheric species (e.g., water) is described. A target gas is detected remotely by its IR signature viewed through a bandpass filter centered at one of its strongest lines. A second radiometric measurement obtained through a bandpass filter centered at a frequency optimized to match the absorption by an atmospheric trace species (e.g., water vapor) at the sample filter frequency provides near-perfect correction for dominant background absorption effects. The net absorption (emission) by the target gas was obtained through subtraction of the reference signal of the second measurement from that of the target gas measurement. For multiple species detection, additional sample and reference filter pairs can be configured. Predictions show that detection of strong absorbers such as dimethyl methylphosphonate at an optical density below 100 mg/m2 is possible from distances of < 6 km.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Computation of a spectrum from a single-beam fourier-transform infrared interferogram.

A new high-accuracy method has been developed to transform asymmetric single-sided interferograms into spectra. We used a fraction (short, double-sided) of the recorded interferogram and applied an iterative correction to the complete recorded interferogram for the linear part of the phase induced by the various optical elements. Iterative phase correction enhanced the symmetry in the recorded interferogram. We constructed a symmetric double-sided interferogram and followed the Mertz procedure [Infrared Phys. 7,17 (1967)] but with symmetric apodization windows and with a nonlinear phase correction deduced from this double-sided interferogram. In comparing the solution spectrum with the source spectrum we applied the Rayleigh resolution criterion with a Gaussian instrument line shape. The accuracy of the solution is excellent, ranging from better than 0.1% for a blackbody spectrum to a few percent for a complicated atmospheric radiance spectrum.

Journal Article↗