Abstract: Methods and systems for near-real-time measurement and analysis of a fluid flowing through a pipeline. Analysis of the spectra of the fluid may be used to determine when a stable first pipeline fluid transitions into a transmix and then further transitions into a stable second pipeline fluid. By comparing the characteristics of the changing spectrum of fluids flowing through a pipeline as they transition from a first stable fluid, through a transmix phase, to a second stable fluid, this process can be achieved without the need to measure compositional or physical properties of the fluids or transmixes thereof.