New Online Course - Emissivity Explained in Plain English

Give us 10 minutes, and we will help you understand the basics of Emissivity, a key parameter needed for accurate measurement as well as thermal image interpretation.
At the conclusion of this course, learners will be able to:

• Explain the basic nature of Emissivity
• Describe its importance for image interpretation and measurement
• Identify a few high and low emissivity surfaces

Link to the Course Home Page

Emissivity of a Bees’ Nest?

Level III student Gabe Peer of Travis Electric Company in Nashville, TN recently sent his instructor, Ron Lucier, a set of images he took of a disconnect on a roof unit.  It turns out disconnects on 10 of the 11 units present on this particular roof contained some kind of nest!

Which begs the question…any guesses on what emissivity to use if your fuses are covered with a wasps’ nest? Does it even matter?  All joking aside, I know that a number of thermographers out there have had similar, less-than-pleasant, encounters with wildlife while in the field.  As if dealing with PPE isn’t enough to worry about, from insects, to rodents to reptiles there’s always the potential for a nice surprise to jump out at us from under an electrical cover.

So, for our readers, curious what you have encountered? Anything that you would like to share? Please feel free to comment below or send in your best story with images and/or video and we’ll post it too.

New Online Course - Reflected Apparent Temperature Made Simple

Give us 10 minutes, and we will help you understand the term Reflected Temperature, a key parameter needed for accurate measurement as well as thermal image interpretation.
At the conclusion of this course, learners will be able to:

• Define Reflected Apparent Temperature (T_reflected)
• Describe why its important
• Explain how T_reflected is measured
• Demonstrate how the parameter is entered into an infrared camera
• Select the correct T_reflected measurement method for several scenarios

Link to the Course Home Page.

InfraMation Call for Papers. Get Your Abstracts Ready!

InfraMation 2015 is now less than a year away and there’s no time like the present to seriously consider sharing your expertise on the issues facing today’s thermography professionals. Clinics, presentations, and poster sessions all originate with you so FLIR and ITC are calling for your papers now for InfraMation 2015.

We are thrilled to be bringing the conference to the heart of Music City in Nashville, Tennessee. Along with the opportunity to help others succeed in building diagnostics and condition monitoring infrared, those with valuable insight into optical gas imaging and research and science thermography, are strongly encouraged to participate!

Start here to submit your abstract: www.inframation.org/papers

If you haven’t submitted an abstract before, then I hope you’ll do so this year. Here are just some of the benefits of being a presenter or instructor at InfraMation:

• Qualify for a deeply discounted conference registration fee and/or honorarium
• Identify yourself as an infrared thermal imaging expert in your field
• Earn valuable certification renewal credits

Whatever your thermal imaging know-how, there’s an interested audience at InfraMation. From building investigations to electrical and mechanical monitoring to R&D and OGI to thermography program management and marketing, attendees are always riveted and appreciative.

Not planning to submit an abstract this year? Then be sure to register for the conference right away to take advantage of the incredible Early Bird Special pricing still available.