Highly Selective Optical Fibre Ammonia Sensor for use in Agriculture

AbstractA highly selective optical fibre sensor has been developed for the monitoring of low level atmospheric ammonia concentrations. The measuring technique employed is based on a differential optical absorption approach, which uses a broadband optical source, optical fibres for transmission and a miniature ultraviolet/visible spectrometer for detection. This novel technique for the detection of ammonia has previously been shown to be capable of monitoring concentrations as low as 1ppm without any notable cross-sensitivity issues [1]. The sensor was operated over a number of hours in-situ in an agricultural cattle enclosure and simultaneously with a commercially available ammonia sensor. Results shown herein demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed sensor to operate within the environment accurately, recording concentration levels of between 0 and 2ppm