Lidar based Particulate Flux Measurements of Agricultural Field Operations

In this paper, we discuss the potential of using remote sensing to map and track the evolution of emission plumes from agricultural facilities. Toward this approach, we utilize a multi-wavelength lidar (Aglite) that is real-time calibrated using a suite of standard point sensors. The Aglite lidar is a robust, agile, and easily operated system that displays emitted particulate distributions in a few seconds under most meteorological and diurnal conditions. Aglite uses three laser wavelengths in combination with information derived from an array of point sensors to distinguish between different types and sizes of particulate emissions. The resulting combination of point samplers and scanning lidar provides near real time measurements of facility operations which can be used to evaluate emission fluxes.