Mobile Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy monitoring of air pollution.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy is an efficient technique for the detection and quantification of molecules in gas mixtures. Measurement results from a mobile laboratory for ambient air analysis and for remote sensing of plume emission with the commercially available K300 spectrometer are reported. CO, CO(2), NO, NO(2), N(2)O, NH(3), CH(4), SO(2), H(2)O, HCl, and HCHO concentrations have been determined with good agreement with in situ results. The on-line multicomponent analysis software is based on line-by-line retrieval and least-squares fitting procedures, including the effects of multiple aerosol scattering and cloud and rain influences.