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Cloud Mapping
The Chemical Cloud Tracking
System (CCTS) is a network system of standoff chemical sensors that can
track chemical vapor clouds and produce concentration maps in real
time. A single standoff chemical sensor can only give the direction
to the cloud; by merging the output from multiple remote sensors, the CCTS
is able to triangulate the cloud position and place it on the map. The
CCTS was developed for Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) in Dugway, UT.
DPG is an army base which is the primary location for standoff chemical
sensor testing with outdoor releases of simulant vapor clouds. To
evaluate new equipment, the testers at DPG must know exactly where the
released puff of simulant vapor is on the range and in what concentration,
they awarded a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract to MESH
to meet their needs and the CCTS was the result. CCTS
is composed of standoff sensors placed on all four corners of the test
grid and a fifth sensor which serves to measure cloud height. These
five sensors all communicate with the command post over a wireless
ethernet. At the command post, the tester sees the maps of the vapor puff
being blown across the range in approximately 15 second intervals. A
typical sequence is reproduced here.
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