PORTABLE ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING THE OPTICAL DEPTH OF AEROSOLS IN AN AIR COLUMN ALONG THE TRAJECTORY OF SAID AEROSOLS TOWARDS THE SUN

The present invention relates to a portable electronic instrument for measuring the optical depth of aerosols in an air column along the trajectory of said aerosols towards the sun, the instrument being of the type that comprises a casing with a lower cover and an upper cover which are connectable to each other by fastening elements and inside of which the components are accommodated. The instrument is characterised in that said lower cover comprises: an optical arrangement at one end for collimating the solar light for sensing, the optical arrangement being formed by a mechanical assembly which defines a plurality of linear solar light capture channels for sensing that have means for blocking internal reflections and in which means are disposed passband and photodiode optical filters, and an internal sun target for alignment with the sun; an electronic system installed and assembled on a printed circuit board and including a microprocessor with very-low-noise transconductance amplifiers, an analogue-digital converter, a flash memory for storing readings, and which has embedded firmware and software for various functions, particularly mathematical libraries for information processing, as well as a screen for displaying the collected data and instrument configuration; an electric power source housed in the casing for supplying said electronic system; and a flexible covering membrane as a user interface. La presente invención está referida a un instrumento electrónico portátil para medir la profundidad óptica de aerosoles en una columna de aire en su trayectoria hacia el sol, del tipo que comprende una carcasa con una cubierta inferior y una cubierta superior ensamblables entre sí con elementos de fijación y para recibir los componentes internamente, caracterizado porque dicha cubierta inferior comprende en uno de sus extremos un arreglo óptico para colimar la luz solar para su sensado, conformado por una montura mecánica que define una pluralidad de canales lineales de captación de luz solar para el sensado con medios de bloqueo de reflejos internos, y en los que se disponen filtros ópticos pasabanda y fotodiodos, y una mira de luz interna para la alineación con el sol; un sistema electrónico implementado y montado sobre una tarjeta de circuito impreso que incluye un microprocesador con los amplificadores de transconductancia de muy bajo ruido, un convertidor analógico- digital, una memoria flash para almacenamiento de lecturas, y que cuenta con un Firmware