What is it?

[RonBoyd]

I come down on the side of it being a "sniffer." Colorado, for instance, is trying to find a way to check cars for emission inspections without the cost (manpower mainly) of physical inspections. Could this be something (since it is a State vehicle) that "sniffs" around industrial plants for... hmmm... various reasons?

My intial thought had to do with map making -- like Google Earth or Mapquest.

 

[TromboneAl]

I don't know what the gadget is, but I recognize the location: Fry's Electronics, U.S. 59 at W. Bellfort, Stafford TX (southwest side of Houston)

Good. You go there, Harry, and when the guy shows up again, ask him what the *&%^ it is.

 

[mickeyd]

Is this how Google gets all of those cool candid street shots?

 

[RonBoyd]

Is this how Google gets all of those cool candid street shots?

Actually, this is the camera:

The camera behind Google's Street View | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

and how they look on the vehicle:

Eye On You: Google Streetview Camera Car Fleet Set to Invade America

 

[gandalf42]

it amplifies radar and shoots it back towards the source.

 

[hogtied]

Modern Day Swamp Cooler

 

[maddythebeagle]

No way that it is any air emission monitoring equipment...if government, I suspect DOT data acquisition...I saw our state DOT with a crazy vehicle with sensors all over the thing a few months back at the local gas station...

 

[ronin]

Is that a nitrous tank? To give more HP to engine?

If it has a hose for the driver, I want one!