This paper analyses the effectiveness of determining gas concentrations by using a prototype WO3 resistive gas sensor together with fluctuation enhanced sensing. We have earlier demonstrated that this method can determine the composition of a gas mixture by using only a single sensor. In the present study, we apply Least-Squares Support-Vector-Machine-based (LS-SVM-based) nonlinear regression to determine the gas concentration of each constituent in a mixture. We confirmed that the accuracy of the estimated gas concentration could be significantly improved by applying temperature change and ultraviolet irradiation of the WO3 layer. Fluctuation-enhanced sensing allowed us to predict the concentration of both component gases.

Spectral remote sensing is a very popular method in atmospheric monitoring. The paper presents an approach that involves mid-infrared spectral measurements of combustion processes. The dominant feature in this spectral range is CO2 radiation, which is used to determine the maximum temperature of nonluminous flames. Efforts are also made to determine the temperature profile of hot CO2, but they are limited to the laboratory conditions. The paper presents an analysis of the radiation spectrum of a non-uniform-temperature gas environment using a radiative transfer equation. Particularly important are the presented experimental measurements of various stages of the combustion process. They allow for a qualitative description of the physical phenomena involved in the process and therefore permit diagnostics. The next step is determination of a non-uniform-temperature profile based on the spectral radiation intensity with the 8 m optical path length.

BC (Black Carbon), which can be found in the atmosphere, is characterized by a large value of the imaginary part of the complex refractive index and, therefore, might have an impact on the global warming effect. To study the interaction of BC with light often computer simulations are used. One of the methods, which are capable of performing light scattering simulations by any shape, is DDA (Discrete Dipole Approximation). In this work its accuracy was estimated in respect to BC structures using the latest stable version of the ADDA (vr. 1.2) algorithm. As the reference algorithm the GMM (Generalized Multiparticle Mie-Solution) code was used. The study shows that the number of volume elements (dipoles) is the main parameter that defines the quality of results. However, they can be improved by a proper polarizability expression. The most accurate, and least time consuming, simulations were observed for IGT_SO. When an aggregate consists of particles composed of ca. 750 volume elements (dipoles), the averaged relative extinction error should not exceed ca. 4.5%.