Airborne Particle Characterization from Optical Scattering: a New Concept Design
Document ID: 20
Senior Honors Thesis
The Pennsylvania State University
Abstract
Determining airborne particle sizes in a simple and efficient manner has many applications to health and atmospheric studies. Through analyzing Mie scattering theory and scattering phase functions, ideas for characterizing airborne particle sizes were investigated. Different locations of the scattering phase functions were analyzed to determine the optimal angles to measure experimentally that would allow the determination of particle size. Utilizing existing polarization ratio theory, a prototype device was designed and fabricated that could be used to measure small concentrations of particles in a laboratory setting. Initially the polarization ratio was determined by using a rotator to change polarizations, but later experiments used two cameras to obtain the two polarizations simultaneously. The methodology of this theory and design steps are described so that this theory could be further investigated.
Keywords: aerosols, optical scattering, optical scattering
| Citation: | M. P. Angert, "Airborne Particle Characterization from Optical Scattering: a New Concept Design", The Pennsylvania State University, Senior Honors Thesis, 2002, 73 pages |