Supporting practical field work in safety‑ and CBRNE‑related applications, Gasmet Technologies has introduced a new background measurement option for its GT5000 Terra portable FTIR gas analyzer.
Unlike single‑gas detectors, FTIR gas analysis measures the full infrared spectrum, enabling the simultaneous identification and quantification of a wide range of gases in a single measurement, including unexpected or unknown compounds. This makes FTIR particularly suited for complex and evolving field scenarios where the nature of the hazard is not known in advance.
In FTIR gas analysis, the background spectrum forms the basis of all measurements, as all sample results are compared against the selected background. Traditionally, Gasmet has recommended measuring this background using high‑purity nitrogen, which remains the appropriate approach for many other applications and measurement tasks.
The new ambient air background option allows GT5000 Terra users to measure the background using clean ambient air just before entering the area of interest. In time‑critical safety and response scenarios, this reduces preparation steps and supports faster field deployment while maintaining the intended measurement performance when background and measurement conditions are similar.
The approach is particularly relevant in applications where the operational focus is on identifying and quantifying hazardous compounds that are not normally present in ambient air, such as in first response, industrial incidents, and civilian CBRNE preparedness, rather than monitoring predefined target gases alone.