Who We Are

Terra Applied Systems LLC (TAS) arose from an initiative to address an anticipated market in remote sensing systems that resulted from the 1992 Clean Air Act legislation. It began as a spin-off from Terra Laboratories, Ltd. in League City, Texas, an independent testing laboratory serving industrial and commercial customers reliable environmental and industrial chemical testing. 

Terra Laboratories, joined by Dr. John Pawloski, formed Terra Air Services LLC to cooperate with ETG Inc., located in Norcross, Georgia, to field open path FTIR systems for industrial optical remote sensing (ORS) applications. TAS assembled a core group with a particular understanding of industrial systems, adaptation of measurement systems to unusual environments, and a vision to support industry in the adoption of these technologies for practical industrial systems.

Terra Air Services initially provided customers with onsite survey services to identify, quantify, and locate emission sources from industrial process operations. Through this process, we further developed robust fielding practices. TAS participated in industry-shaping projects to develop applications and practices using ORS such as:

• Estimate area source emissions using optical remote sensing

• Install and operate permanent multiple ORS technologies for industrial fenceline monitoring

• Provide and maintain real-time fenceline monitoring data to community and emergency response organizations

• Adapt ORS system data management and maintenance into industrial environments

• Field several first commercial units in industrial applications (FTIR, TDL, EDLS, UV interferometry, UV DOAS)

• Field real-time dispersion modeling supported by open path and point sensor measurements

• Support integration of open path data into commercial real-time emergency response modeling system

TAS developed a creative and strong technical culture that has proven effective in facilitating the adoption of technologies by industry and others. By 2015, the Terra group found that the projects and applications we support go beyond the ‘Air Services’ description implied by the name. The operation was renamed Terra Applied Systems LLC. The mission and experiences remained unchanged. The new name reflects the broad range of our role in projects and technology adoption.