Airborne particulate source detection system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9995847-B2
Application number	US-201514747522-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 23, 2015
Priority date	Jun 23, 2015
Publication date	Jun 12, 2018
Grant date	Jun 12, 2018

Abstract

A method comprises receiving data associated with a detection of the odor, the data associated with the detection of the odor comprising a location of the detection of the odor and a time of the detection of the odor, retrieving weather data corresponding to the detection of the odor, the weather data including a wind speed and direction in the location of the detection of the odor at the time of the detection of the odor, calculating a location of the source of the odor as a function of the location of the detection of the odor, the time of the location of the odor and the wind speed and direction in the location of the detection of the odor, and outputting to a user on a display a graphical representation of a likely area that includes the location of the source of the odor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for detecting a source of an odor, the system comprising:
a display;
a smart device comprising a global positioning system;
a processor communicatively connected to the display, the processor operative to:
receive data associated with a first detection of the odor, the data associated with the first detection of the odor comprising a location of the first detection of the odor and a time of the first detection of the odor;
retrieve weather data corresponding to the first detection of the odor, the weather data including a wind speed and direction in the location of the first detection of the odor at the time of the first detection of the odor;
calculate a location of the source of the odor as a function of the location of the first detection of the odor, the time of the first location of the odor and the wind speed and direction in the location of the first detection of the odor, each of which is provided by the smart device that continually moves into a source area and makes observations to improve odor detection activity and the detecting of the source of the odor, while reducing a size of the source area allowing the source of the odor to be identified; and
output to a user on a display a graphical representation of a likely area that includes the location of the source of the odor,
wherein the function of the location of the first detection of the odor, the time of the first location of the odor and the wind speed and direction in the location of the first detection of the odor is defined as:

-

∂
p

∂
t

=

u
i

·

∂
p

∂

x
i

+

∂

∂

x
i

⁢

(

σ
i

⁢

∂
p

∂

x
i

)

,

for t<t R , where u i is the wind speed, x i is a direction of the wind, σ i is a diffusion factor of the odor, t is a time, and t R is the time of the first detection of the odor.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein p(x,t;x R ,t R )=∂(t−t R )∂(x−x R ), where p is a probability density function, x is a position, and x R is location of the first detection of the odor.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further operative to:
receive data associated with a second detection of the odor, the data associated with the second detection of the odor comprising a location of the second detection of the odor and a time of the second detection of the odor;
retrieve weather data corresponding to the second detection of the odor, the weather data including a wind speed and direction in the location of the second detection of the odor at the time of the second detection of the odor;
calculate an updated location of the source of the odor as a function of the location of the first detection of the odor, the time of the first location of the odor and the wind speed and direction in the location of the first detection of the odor and the location of the second detection of the odor, the time of the second location of the odor and the wind speed and direction in the location of the second detection of the odor; and
output to a user on a display an graphical representation of an updated likely area that includes the location of the source of the odor.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data associated with the first detection of the odor includes a description of the odor.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the graphical representation of a likely area that includes the location of the source of the odor includes a map, and the graphical representation of the likely area that includes the location of the source of the odor is displayed on the map.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further operative to display the location of the first detection of the odor on a map to the user on the display.

7. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
receiving data associated with a first detection of the odor, the data associated with the first detection of the odor comprising a location of the first detection of the odor and a time of the first detection of the odor;
retrieving weather data corresponding to the first detection of the odor, the weather data including a wind speed and direction in the location of the first detection of the odor at the time of the first detection of the odor;
calculating a location of the source of the odor as a function of the location of the first detection of the odor, the time of the first location of the odor and the wind speed and direction in the location of the first detection of the odor, each of which is provided by a smart device, comprising a global positioning system, that continually moves into a source area and makes observations to improve odor detection activity and the detecting of the source of the odor, while reducing a size of the source area allowing the source of the odor to be identified; and
outputting to a user on a display a graphical representation of a likely area that includes the location of the source of the odor,
wherein the function of the location of the first detection of the odor, the time of the first location of the odor and the wind speed and direction in the location of the first detection of the odor is defined as:

-

∂
p

∂
t

=

u
i

·

∂

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Kalagnanam Jayant
• Xiao Liu
• Yeo Kyong Min
• Zhou Yinsheng

Classifications

• G01W1/00

  Meteorology · CPC title

• G01W1/10 Primary

  Devices for predicting weather conditions (computers per se G06; display devices G09) · CPC title