Santiago
Palanco

Associate Professor · University of Málaga

Laser-Induced Plasma Spectrometry · Remote Sensing · Field Instrumentation

About Me

Santiago graduated from the University of Greenwich (UK) with a BSc Honours in Applied Chemistry (1992) and from the University of País Vasco (Spain) in 1996. He obtained his PhD from the University of Málaga in 2001.

His PhD research focused on applications of laser induced plasma spectrometry to industrial processes, including fully-automated quality assurance of stainless steel and development of portable and stand-off LIBS instruments.In collaboration with the Army Research Laboratory (US DoD), he demonstrated stand-off LIBS detection of energetic materials for the first time in 2004. From 2006 to 2008, he held a faculty position at CREOL, University of Central Florida as Senior Scientist.

Currently Associate Professor at the University of Málaga (since 2016), his research focuses on the application of laser-induced plasmas to field applications in extreme environments, including the development of compact drone-borne and robotic instrumentation for materials characterization, and the development of novel analytical methods and advanced data processing for screening/surveying critical raw materials (CRM).

Research Projects

Field-deployable laser-based instrumentation for extreme scenarios

Chemocopter

First fully integrated airborne LIBS instrument worldwide.

Volcanic Monitoring

Rapid-response laser-based instrumentation deployed during active volcanic eruption within a two-week timeframe.

Reminlaser

Airborne LIBS for assessment of Critical Raw Materials in mining waste environments. Joint project with IGME-CSIC.

Segovia Aqueduct

Laser-based analytical methods for provenance studies of historical stone materials.

BASEPROD

LIBS for smarter guidance algorithms in robotic planetary exploration.

AIROB

LIBS on a robotic platform for automated track maintenance operations.

TRACE

Targeted assessment of Critical Raw Materials using advanced optical sensing and data fusion.

View all projects at Chemocopter.com

Selected Publications

Some of our publications

2026

Test mining sites at the moon: A review of resource extraction opportunities and challenges at de Gerlache, Shackleton, and Sverdrup-Henson Regions

Engineering Geology

Ahrens, Caitlin; Leone, Giovanni; Joutsenvaara, Jari; Kereszturi, Akos; Calabrese, Giuseppe; Schmidt, Gene; Bernal, Alberto; Palanco, Santiago

2024

BASEPROD: The Bardenas Semi-Desert Planetary Rover Dataset

Scientific Data

Gerdes, Levin; Wiese, Tim; Castilla Arquillo, Raúl; Bielenberg, Laura; Azkarate, Martin; Leblond, Hugo; Witling, Felix; Ortega Cortés, Joaquín; Bernal, Alberto; Palanco, Santiago; Pérez del Pulgar, Carlos

2022

Field deployment of a man-portable stand-off laser-induced breakdown spectrometer

Spectrochimica Acta Part B

Palanco, Santiago; Pérez-López, Raúl; Galindo-Jiménez, Inés; Bernal, Alberto; Aranda, Sergio; López-Escalante, María Cruz; Leinen, Dietmar; Mediato, José F.; López-Gutiérrez, Julio; Ramos-Barrado, José R.

2022

Towards airborne laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Spectrochimica Acta Part B

Palanco, Santiago; Aranda, Sergio; Mancebo, Franciasco; López-Escalante, María Cruz; Leinen, Dietmar; Ramos-Barrado, José R.

2014

Micro- and nanoparticle generation during nanosecond laser ablation

Optics Express

Palanco, Santiago; Marino, Salvatore; Gabás, M; Bijani, Shanti; Ayala, Luis; Ramos-Barrado, José R.

2014

Particle formation and plasma radiative losses during laser ablation

Optics Express

Palanco, Santiago; Marino, Salvatore; Gabás, Mercedes; Bijani, Shanti; Ayala, Luis; Ramos-Barrado, José R.

2009

Detection of trace concentrations of helium and argon in gas mixtures by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Spectrochimica Acta Part B

McNaghten, E.D.; Parkes, A. M.; Griffiths, B.C.; Whitehouse, A.I.; Palanco, Santiago

2009

Thermodynamic and spectroscopic properties of Nd:YAG–CO₂ double-pulse laser-induced iron plasmas

Spectrochimica Acta Part B

Weidman, Matthew; Palanco, Santiago; Baudelet, Matthieu; Richardson, Martin C.

2008

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy and Related Stand-off Detection Technologies

Biomedical Optics

Palanco, Santiago; Richardson, Martin C.

2007

Stand-off analysis of moving targets using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry

Lopez-Moreno, Cristina; Palanco, Santiago; Laserna, J. Javier

2006

Design, construction and assessment of a field-deployable laser-induced breakdown spectrometer for remote elemental sensing

Spectrochimica Acta Part B

Palanco, Santiago; Lopez-Moreno, Carlos; Laserna, J. Javier

2006

Test of a stand-off laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy sensor for the detection of explosive residues on solid surfaces

Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry

Lopez-Moreno, Cristina; Palanco, Santiago; Laserna, J. Javier.; DeLucia, Frank; Miziolek, Andrzej W.; Rose, Jeremy; Walters, Roy A.; Whitehouse, Andrew I.

2005