| abstract |
Disclosed is a method of using a portable handheld characteristic analyzer (300) in order to analyze chemical compositions in or near real-time, the analyzer (300) having at least one integrated computational element arranged therein. One method of using the analyzer (300) to determine a characteristic of a sample (310) includes directing the analyzer (300) at the sample (310), activating the analyzer (300), thereby optically interacting the at least one integrated computational element with the sample (310) and generating optically interacted light, receiving the optically interacted light with at least one detector (212, 216; 420) arranged within the analyzer (300), generating an output signal corresponding to the characteristic of the sample (310) with the at least one detector (212, 216; 420), receiving the output signal with a signal processor (314) communicably coupled to the at least one detector (212, 216; 420), and determining the characteristic of the sample (310) with the signal processor (212, 216; 420). |