Digital inline holography systems and methods especially for urban aerosol characterization

The digital inline holography system, specifically the PAI, addresses the challenge of measuring coarse mode aerosols by offering high-resolution, real-time imaging, enhancing urban environmental monitoring and providing actionable data for various sectors.

WO2026039573A1 Publication Date: 2026-02-19CLOUDSCI LLC
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Patent Information

Application Number
PCT/US2025/041886
Authority / Receiving Office
WO · WO
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2024-08-15
Filing Date
2025-08-13
Publication Date
2026-02-19

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing commercial sensors fail to accurately measure coarse mode aerosols, which are crucial for understanding their impact on climate, air quality, and human health, due to the inherent complexity of urban environments and limitations in current measurement technologies.

Method used

A digital inline holography system, such as the Passive Aerosol Imager (PAI), provides contact-free imaging of coarse mode aerosols, offering size and shape information directly, capable of imaging large sample volumes rapidly and in near real-time, with minimal power consumption and no active aspiration, using a triggered laser system and open-path geometry.

Benefits of technology

The PAI system enables high-resolution, near real-time characterization of coarse mode aerosols, improving urban environmental monitoring by providing actionable data for healthcare, agriculture, and urban planning, and enhancing our understanding of environmental and climate dynamics.

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Abstract

A digital inline holography system (1) with an illumination source (18), digital inline holography sensor (20) capturing scattered object wave, onboard raw digital inline holograph image processor (21) and dual layers as by a first digital inline holography housing with a first digital inline holography temperature environment and a differential temperature second digital inline holography housing with a differential temperature second digital inline holography environment on either side of a substantially free flow aerosol particle air path (23). Embodiments can include a digital inline holography component thermal control system (33) for just one of the environments and a retroreflector in the differential temperature second environment. These can permit unusually accurate sensing of coarse mode aerosols at high resolutions and in near real-time to facilitate use in a network of sensors that can permit automatic characterization of coarse mode aerosols and other particulates in ways that were not practically achievable.
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