LIBS (Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy)
Definition
A spectroscopic technique that uses a high-power pulsed laser to ablate and ionise a small amount of sample material, generating a plasma whose emission spectrum identifies elemental composition. Contact-free, requires no sample preparation, and returns results in under five seconds. Used for in-situ elemental screening at fire and post-blast scenes.
Related terms
- Cal Fire (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection)
- California's state fire agency, which has integrated drone aerial survey and multispectral imaging into major wildfire investigations since 2018. Operational use in...
- ENFSI EWG AI Working Group
- The European Network of Forensic Science Institutes Explosives Working Group's artificial intelligence working group, active from 2021. Produced a 2023 position paper...
- Handheld Raman
- A portable spectrometer using a near-infrared laser (typically 785 nm or 1064 nm) to measure inelastic light scattering from molecular bonds. Generates...
- Multispectral Imaging
- Photography or remote sensing in multiple wavelength bands beyond the visible spectrum, including near-infrared and short-wave infrared. Drone-mounted multispectral cameras are used...
- OSAC F&E Subcommittee
- The Organisation of Scientific Area Committees Fire Investigation and Explosives Subcommittee, operating under NIST. Produces method standards, validation guidance, and proficiency criteria...
- Photogrammetric 3D Scene Model
- A three-dimensional spatial reconstruction of a scene produced by photogrammetric processing of overlapping photographs, typically captured by drone. Treated by courts as...
- Random Forest Classifier
- A supervised machine-learning ensemble model that builds multiple decision trees from randomly sampled subsets of training data and features, then aggregates their...
- Structure-from-Motion (SfM)
- A photogrammetric technique in which overlapping images from a drone or camera, processed by software, generate a three-dimensional point cloud and textured...
- Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS)
- A ground-based 3D LIDAR survey instrument that captures millions of range measurements per scan to produce a millimetre-accurate point cloud of the...
Explained in
- Emerging Methods: Handheld Raman, LIBS, CT Imaging, MLA spectroscopic technique that uses a high-power pulsed laser to ablate and ionise a small amount of sample material, generating a plasma whose emission spectr...