PIPSS Defence & Security Themed Call: Durham University/AGI Transmissometer Project

测量能见度，或者说众所周知的大气透射率，对天文学家来说非常重要。为了在他们位于纳米比亚的望远镜上进行这种测量，杜伦大学高能伽马射线天文小组建造了一种被称为透射仪的仪器。它使用基于LED和ccd的技术来执行测量，这比目前在这类仪器中使用的白炽灯泡和光探测器有优势。特别是，我们的设备比老式仪器更容易校准，需要更少的维护和更少的电力，因此它可以是太阳能供电的，这对于军用飞机经常使用的远程飞机跑道特别有用。该仪器还能够测量飞机的真正“滑行路径”，从而提供“飞行员视角”的能见度。因此，新仪器在民用和军事方面对机场安全都有相当大的好处，因此我们为该设计申请了专利。我们已经对仪器进行了升级，使其能够在白天工作（天文学家只需要夜间测量！），找到了一个更便宜的CCD相机，将其集成到仪器中，并将其改为软件，以便可以使用Windows来控制它，我们现在希望进一步改进它，使其能够在机场和军用机场使用，而不是更传统的仪器。这包括使仪器更加坚固，并与目前由我们的项目合作伙伴（位于多塞特郡的英国公司，航空和通用仪器有限公司（AGI））建造的一个传输表一起进行广泛的现场试验。最重要的是，我们还需要与AGI合作，将软件升级到航空业标准，以确保达勒姆传输表在各种情况下都能安全可靠地运行。我们还将研究我们的仪器用于测量大气中污染物的用途——通过使用合适波长的led，我们希望能够专注于特定的污染物。

Measuring visibility, or atmospheric transmission as it is known, is important for astronomers. In order to perform this type of measurement at their telescope site in Namibia, the Durham University Very High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy group built an instrument known as a transmissometer. This uses LED and CCD-based technology to perform the measurements, which has advantages over the incandescent light bulbs and light detectors currently employed in instruments like this. In particular, our equipment is easier to align, requires less maintenance and uses less power than older instruments, so that it can be solar-powered, which is particularly useful for remote airstrips, such as are often used by military aircraft. The instrument is also capable of measuring along the true 'glide path' of an aircraft, which gives a 'pilot's eye view' of the visibility. The new instrument thus has considerable benefits for airport safety in both civil and military contexts, and so we have patented the design. Having upgraded the instrument so that it will work during the day (astronomers need only night-time measurements!), found a cheaper CCD camera to incorporate in the instrument and changed to software so that it can be controlled using Windows, we are now hoping to improve it further so that it can be used in airports and military airfields instead of more traditional instruments. This involves making the instrument more robust and performing extensive field trials side-by-side with one of the transmissometers currently built by our project partners, a British company based in Dorset, Aeronautical and General Instruments Ltd. (AGI). Most importantly, we also need to work with AGI to upgrade the software to aviation industry standards, to ensure that the Durham transmissometer will run safely and reliably in all kinds of situations. We will also be researching uses of our instrument for measuring pollutants in the atmosphere - by using LEDs at suitable wavelengths, we expect to be able to focus on specific contaminants.