AURA (Advanced UV Remote-Sensing Applications) is a payload designed for deployment on an airborne platform. Applications include the detection and discrimination of biological agents. The AURA system uses ultraviolet laser-induced fluorescence to differentiate between bioaerosols, which have a characteristic "signature" when illuminated (by shifting the color of light they reflect), and other particles, such as dust or diesel fumes. Under development since 1998, AURA successfully detected a variety of known and blind releases of biological warfare agent simulants in tests at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, distinguishing biological and nonbiological releases.
The system discriminates whether a cloud contains bioaerosols by looking for very specific wavelengths, or colors, of light fluorescing in a UV-illuminated cloud of particles. The detection, mapping, and analysis take approximately 10 seconds. Tests have been conducted while the detection system is stationary as well as moving.
