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Issued patent
Hydroxyl Radical (OH) Gas Detector
An issued NASA patent from the Technology Transfer catalog.
About this technology
Overview
Hydroxyl radical (OH) is a greenhouse gas that is highly reactive. It reacts with many atmospheric pollutants, including itself, and is considered an important part of eliminating greenhouse gases, especially methane and ozone. OH gas plays a major role in the concentrations of greenhouse gases and is the most prevalent oxidizer in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. Due of its high reactivity, OH gas is short-lived (a lifetime of less than one second) and thus, difficult to measure. The OH Gas Detector can measure the absorption of OH gas for detection purposes.