Claims
- 1. A method for detecting materials in a subsurface soil environment, comprising the steps of:penetrating said subsurface soil environment with a tube having a conically shaped tip; injecting a non-fluorescent reagent from said tube into said subsurface soil environment so that said reagent and a non-fluorescent chemical constituent of interest directly contacted with said reagent chemically interact, thereby forming a fluorescent product; producing a fluorescent optical response signal when said fluorescent product is illuminated with optical energy directed from said tube; and imaging said fluorescent optical response signal.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said reagent is selected from the group that includes aminonapthalensulfonates, dialkycarbocyanines, solvatochromic dyes, and nucleic acid stains.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said optical energy includes visible light.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said optical energy includes ultraviolet light.
- 5. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of: injecting a chemical tracer into said subsurface soil environment that is spectroscopically distinguishable from said reagent and said chemical constituent of interest; and normalizing said fluorescent optical response signal.
- 6. A method for detecting materials in a subsurface soil environment, comprising the steps of:penetrating said subsurface soil environment with a tube having a conically shaped tip; injecting a non-fluorescent reagent from said tube into said subsurface soil environment so that said reagent and a non-fluorescent, non-aqueous phase liquid of interest directly contacted with said reagent chemically interact, thereby forming a fluorescent product; producing a fluorescent optical response signal when said fluorescent product is illuminated with optical energy directed from said tube; and imaging said fluorescent optical response signal.
- 7. The method of claim 6 wherein said reagent is selected from the group that includes aminonapthalensulfonates, dialkycarbocyanines, and solvatochromic dyes.
- 8. The method of claimed 6 wherein said optical energy includes visible light.
- 9. The method of claim 6 wherein said optical energy includes ultraviolet light.
- 10. The method of claim 6 further including the steps of: injecting a chemical tracer into said subsurface soil environment that is spectroscopically distinguishable from said reagent and said non-aqueous phase liquid of interest; and normalizing said fluorescent optical response signal.
- 11. A method for detecting materials in a subsurface soil environment, comprising the steps of:penetrating said subsurface soil environment with a tube having a conically shaped tip; injecting a non-fluorescent reagent from said tube into said subsurface soil environment so that said reagent and a non-fluorescent microbiological organism of interest directly contacted with said reagent chemically interact, thereby forming a fluorescent product; producing a fluorescent optical response signal when said fluorescent product is illuminated with optical energy directed from said tube; and imaging said fluorescent optical response signal.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/630,653 filed Apr. 10, 1996, now abandoned, and is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/772,611, filed Dec. 23, 1996.
US Referenced Citations (31)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Lieberman et al., “Cone Penetrometer Deployed In Situ Video Imaging System for Characterizing Sub-Surface Soil Properties and Contaminants”, Field Screening Europe, Oct. 1, 1997, Karlsruhe, Germany, First International Conference on Strategies and Techniques for the Investigation and Monitoring of Contaminated Sites, pp. 129-132. |
Continuation in Parts (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08/630653 |
Apr 1996 |
US |
Child |
09/162418 |
|
US |
Parent |
08/772611 |
Dec 1996 |
US |
Child |
08/630653 |
|
US |