Imaging of methane gas using a scanning, open-path laser system

We have developed an imaging system for the detection and visualization of methane gas leaks. The system is based on a distributed feedback InGaAs laser diode emitting at 1.65 μm, the beam from which is directed at neighbouring objects. The backscattered light is collected by a Fresnel lens and the gas concentration is deduced from the reduction in collected intensity as measured using a second derivative wavelength modulation technique. The incident laser and the collected beam are both scanned over an area to form an image of the gas emission. To ease the task of locating the source of the emission, we combine the resulting low-resolution image of the gas emission with a high-resolution colour image of the scene. Our results show that the system can image a gas cloud of 1 mm effective thickness at a range of several metres, sufficient to detect a gas leak of 1 litre min−1 in light to moderate winds.