Evaluating LIDAR Sensors for the Survey of Emissions from Ships at Harbor

The paper covers the need of a detailed monitoring of exhaust gases emissions from the funnel of ships during manoeuvres and mooring at harbour. Just like in many other transport infrastructures, a key point for an effective control of the overall environmental impact stands in the identification of the emissions from single vehicles, in order to make possible to conceive and to put into practice targeted countermeasures. Remote sensing of such specific emissions is an issue and optical sensors are the best candidates for the purpose. The paper is based on a pilot experience carried out in the port of Naples with the aim of studying the feasibility of LIDAR measurements to characterize ship particulate emission. These preliminary measurements allowed a first evaluation of the concentration and of the flow rate of the particulate emissions, even though this was achieved by adding simplified hypotheses. Overall, this pilot campaign indicates the feasibility of using LIDAR techniques for controlling emissions (in terms of particulate matter, but also of Sulphur and Nitrogen oxides) both in stationary conditions and during the maneuvering phases of ships.