Non Technical Summary
Aether has proposed a solution that aligns with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's strategic plan for combatting climate change through investments in mitigating its impact. The proposed solution involves developing a commercially viable technology that can monitor methane emissions from livestock farms, rice paddies, landfills, and gas and oil infrastructures. The technology will provide air pollution data in real-time, which can be used to develop an intelligent decision support system for methane remediation or capture. This solution is particularly important given that methane is the primary contributor to hazardous air pollutants, greenhouse gases, and premature worldwide deaths.The proposed solution will benefit the general public by providing a low-cost, rugged, selective, and simple passive detection system capable of continuously monitoring the environment with no human intervention. Standard chemical analyzers/sensors are expensive to operate, complicated to use, and unsuitable for field use. Specialized imaging technology as part of satellites and aircraft are ineffective because they cannot continually monitor the thousands of potential methane sites for real-time detection. Aether's solution will offer remote detection to enable capture or remediation automation, reduced labor and operating costs, enhanced environmental compliance and performance, increased productivity, and real-time analysis for better decision making. By filling a gap in the chemical detection market, Aether's IIoTN system will enable the general public to operate their enterprises responsibly and comply with local, state, and federal requirements while protecting the environment affordably and saving lives from heat related deaths.The value proposition of Aether's IIoT system lies in its low SWaP-C attributes for the target markets and verticals, remote sensing capability, high levels of specificity, and at between 10X to 100X cost reduction over commercially available stand-off Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) devices. The proposed solution will enable wide adaptability, empowering government agencies to enact climate change regulations in multiple industries, and enabling enterprises to operate responsibly and comply with local, state, and federal requirements.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
141	0410	2000	100%

Knowledge Area
141 - Air Resource Protection and Management;

Subject Of Investigation
0410 - Air;

Field Of Science
2000 - Chemistry;

Goals / Objectives
The primary goal of Aether's proposed Phase II project is to commercialize a passive optical chemical sensor prototype and relevant analytical algorithms that utilize the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) biomimetic methodology for Chemical Group Classification (Patent US 11,029,247 B2) to discriminate methane (CH4) from potential interferents successfully. Further, to advance Phase I research that compares CH4 spectra to ambient interferent spectra to extrapolate CH4 concentrations. Research and development experiments employing the Infrared CIE Methodology will continue to test the feasibility of producing a novel device and methodology for standoff detection of methane from livestock farms, manure management facilities, rice paddies, landfills, and gas and oil infrastructures. The proposed solution aims to combat climate change, support America's working lands, natural resources, and communities, and develop technologies to monitor air quality and reduce air pollution from agricultural enterprises, in line with the USDA's Strategic Plan for the fiscal years 2022 to 2026. To achieve commercialization, in Phase II, our goal is to develop a sensor array prototype for controlled field testing, relevant analytical algorithms, and communications architecture that meet the proposal's requirements.The objectives of the project include:1. Refinement of quantification. Validate quantification methodology in controlled outdoor environments within 20% of actual value.Milestone: Interferents identified. To successfully generate a calibration curve for methane quantification using PBS filter configurations.2. Hardware development for use in relevant outdoor environments. Upgrade PBS system with appropriate communications, power, and ruggedness to continuously operate outdoors.Milestone: Field prototype passes all durability tests for intended outdoor operations.3. Software development of back-end architecture and user application. Creation of a solution for real-time detection and quantification of methane emissions in agriculture, utilizing the PBS and cloud computing technologies.Milestone: Software and hardware are communicating seamlessly over a stable communication medium, and methane levels reported.4. Ad-hoc testing at the Colorado State University Methane Emissions Technology Evaluation Center (METEC). Determine the wireless sensor network (WSN) operating parameters (e.g. angle and placement) for optimal detection and resolve disclosed failure points.Milestone: The technology is ready for entry onto a 12-week single blind study at METEC. The methane emission duration and quantities are known to all parties during this phase of testing.5. METEC Controlled -Continuous Monitoring Emission Detection And Quantification. Testing will evaluate system-level performance measures including Probability of Detection and Detection Time. Determine statistical probabilities of detection quality and speed.Milestone: The system has overcome all weaknesses identified in the ad-hoc testing.

Project Methods
Beer's LawPlanck's LawCIE Methodology / ChartPassive IR SpectroscopyEfforts: Aether will attempt to create an entrepreneurship and business development outreach program for doctoral students in chemistry, optical sciences, or other relevant fields that synergize with Aether's efforts. We will provide access to learning opportunities to complement their current Ph.D. research and bolster their executive leadership, operations, and finance skills. We will encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds, including underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and women. Aether will consider offering an employment opportunity to individuals with the required skill set and expertise.Evaluation: Successful project implementation can be divided into measurable outcomes, a review process, and how we evaluate and control the effects. Aether will utilize success values, final verifications, and milestones to achieve the desired outcomes. This process ensures the project has measurable results focusing on the selected research and development. In this way, the project has a higher chance of success since the combination of success values and verification calls out when an objective need is met and passes control measures. Our project methodology will consist of five overarching processes to successfully discriminate methane from potential interferents in agricultural and relevant outdoor testing environments and allow us to simultaneously compare vapor and ambient interferent spectra to extrapolate methane concentrations.Process 1: Generate calibration curve to successfully account for emission levels, calibration between the three biomimetic filters, the water vapor filter and relative humidity are needed. Numerous outdoor tests at NRL using the PBS will be performed. The data will be analyzed against concurrent FTIR sampling.Success value: Statistical precision at a 90% confidence interval within CIE methodology.Verification: Accurate assessments between FTIR and PBS assessments within CIE methodology.Milestone: The PBS passes outdoor tests in the presence of environmental interferents.Process 2: Integrate mechanical design with software. Sensor testing under the Methane Emissions Technology Evaluation Center (METEC) protocol is a multi-week process; 24 hours per day, 5-7 days per week. Our WSN must be weatherproof and allow for continuous operation in a rural outdoor environment without frequent attention by personnel other than routine maintenance and calibrations.Success value: Minimal failure points assessed after combined integration and testing.Verification: Shutter durability, module integration stability, zero data underflow.Milestone: Develop a WSN that will be deployed at METEC for ad-hoc and controlled testing.Process 3: Simultaneous data interpretation. The software requirements for this initiative include sophisticated data interpretation and display capabilities, management of sensor arrays, and comprehensive data analytics and reporting features. The system must handle simultaneous data streams from multiple passive sensors, providing binary and quantitative methane readings.Success value: Successful reading and output of sensor array data.Verification: Low latency backend processing over multiple comm. methods.Milestone: To develop a software application for real time methane detection and quantification that will interpret data streams from Aether's multi-channel sensor array.Process 4: Determine optimal operating parameters. The transition from a laboratory environment to the field is a dynamic phase in the life cycle of any sensor. METEC allows organizations to bring new detection systems to perform ad-hoc testing prior to entering into a comprehensive single blind trial. This testing serves the purpose to refine a technology in an operationally relevant environment and consists of the steps outlined below.Success value: Sensor distance and Field of views (FOV) result in blind spot eliminationVerification: Components, software, and waterproofing are successful.Milestone: To troubleshoot and optimize hardware components and software architecture prior to entry into a single blind continuous monitoring study at METEC.Process 5: Probability of detection. This testing will assess the performance of Aether's continuous monitoring (CM) systems which perform leak detection and quantification (LDAQ) under Single-Blind controlled release testing over a range of environmental conditions and emission rates.Success value: High probability of Methane detection and quantification within CIE methodology.Verification: Complete system stability is achieved.Milestone: The sensor array detects methane with a high precision, and is ready for deployment as a minimum viable product in an uncontrolled field environment with lighthouse customers.