The subject invention relates to instrumentation and more specifically to an instrument for detecting changes in visibility conditions. Fog and other environmental factors can decrease visibility, which causes problem in surveillance, highway safety, railroads, aircraft, marine, military, and environmental monitoring. Several commercial manufactures offer products to measure fog; however, the instrumentation is large and costly. So much so, that it is completely prohibitive to integrate such devices into a vehicle. A new design is needed that can measure visibility with repeatable accuracy, small package, and at low cost. The subject invention of this disclosure applies an innovative optical method not seen in the literature nor in currently available products to significantly increase the signal-to-noise ratio of an optical forward scattering visibility detector.
Inventors
Roger A Kisner Electrical & Electronics Systems Research Division
Contact
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