Chamber lidar measurements of biological aerosols.

In order to determine the performance of standoff sensors against agents, there is a need to develop methods to characterize the optical properties of biological warfare agents. The goal of this work is to develop a methodology that would allow the characterization of agent optical cross sections from the UV to the longwave IR. The present work demonstrates an optical measurement architecture based on lidar technology, allowing the measurement of backscatter and depolarization ratio from biological aerosols (either simulants or agents) released in a refereed, 1m³ chamber. Measured results on simulant materials are calibrated and compared to theoretical simulations of the cross sections.