The article presents the history of the development and the current state of the apparatus for the detection of interferents and biological warfare simulants in the air with the laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) method. The LIF method is the most sensitive spectroscopic method and also enables the measurement of single particles of biological aerosols and their concentration in the air. The overview covers both the on-site measuring instruments and remote methods. The spectral characteristics of the biological agents, steady-state spectra, excitation-emission matrices, and their fluorescence lifetimes are presented. In addition to the literature, we also present our own detection systems for military applications.
Keywords: air monitoring; bioaerosol; biological particles; laser-induced fluorescence; lidars.