Patent ID: 8838396

Claim:
A system for detecting the presence of water droplets in vehicle emissions, the system comprising: one or more processors configured to execute computer program modules, the computer program modules comprising: (i) a quantity module configured to obtain measurements of quantities of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide present in an exhaust plume emitted by a vehicle based on information related to intensities of electromagnetic in a plurality of absorption wavelengths, the plurality of absorption wavelengths comprising a first absorption wavelength that corresponds to carbon monoxide, a second absorption wavelength that corresponds to hydrocarbons, and a third absorption wavelength that corresponds to carbon dioxide; (ii) a residual module configured to determine an impact on determinations of the quantity of carbon monoxide caused by blockage of electromagnetic radiation at the first absorption wavelength by water droplets by: determining the quantity of carbon monoxide as a function of the measured quantity of carbon dioxide; and subtracting the quantity of carbon monoxide determined as a function of the measured carbon dioxide from the obtained measurement of the quantity of carbon monoxide; and (iii) a water analysis module configured to detect the presence of water droplets based on a comparative analysis of the measured quantities of hydrocarbons and the determined impact on determinations of the quantity of carbon monoxide caused by blockage of electromagnetic radiation at the first absorption wavelength by water droplets.