Multiple site laser excited pollution monitoring system

Claim 1

A multiple site laser excited pollution monitoring system, comprising: a laser situated at one preselected location, said laser producing an output beam of electromagnetic radiation at a predetermined wavelength; a beam deflector optically aligned with said laser beam for deflecting said laser beam in a predetermined timed sequence to a plurality of distinct different positions; means for receiving each of said deflected laser beams at each of said distinct different positions and for transmitting each of said deflected laser beams at said predetermined sequence of time to a plurality of other preselected locations remote from each other and from said one preselected location; a plurality of laser excited photoacoustic pollution detectors, each of said laser excited pollution detectors being located at a different one of said other preselected locations and each of said detectors receiving each of said deflected laser beams, respectively, at a different time in accordance with said predetermined timed sequence; each of said laser excited pollution detectors providing an electrical output signal representative of the presence of pollutants at said plurality of other locations, respectively; a separate electrical wire connected to each of said laser excited pollution detectors for transmitting each of said electrical output signals to said one preselected location; and means located at said one preselected location for connecting thereto each of said separate electrical wires and for receiving each of said electrical output signals from said pollution detectors, analyzing said signals, and providing an output indicating the presence and quantity of pollutants present at each of said plurality of other preselected locations.