Trade-offs between moving and stationary particle collectors for detecting a bio-agent plume

Outdoor air in several U.S. cities is now being continuously monitored for biological warfare agents. In the current implementation, all monitoring devices, which we refer to as “collectors,” are stationary. This paper discusses the trade-offs between stationary and moving collectors. A moving collector is more likely than a stationary collector to sample a clandestine release, but will experience a lower time-integrated concentration than an ideally placed stationary collector. Quantitative results are determined for some idealized cases, and suggest that moving collectors may offer substantial advantages over stationary collectors.