Infrared Wildlife and Black Ice Detector - Looking for Feedback

by Rosaele Tremblay

Hello, I am a high school student writing a paper for my science project and I would like any feedback from the InfraMation readers (scientists or thermographers to see if I am on track with this idea or if anyone has suggestions as to how we can make this work. Thank you for any input.

You can provide comments and suggestions for Rosaele by leaving a comment on this post - Editor

Introduction
The electromagnetic spectrum includes gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, microwaves, and radio waves and each of them has a different wavelength and frequency. Infrared radiation is between visible light and the microwave portions of the electromagnetic spectrum and it is not visible to the human eye. Some animals do exist which see in infrared such as a few different snakes. Three categories exist in infrared: near, mid and far-infrared. Near-infrared is the closest to visible light and far-infrared is closer to the microwave portions. Infrared radiations are all around us every day coming from sunlight, a fire, radiator, a warm sidewalk and the TV remote. Everything on earth gives off heat when molecules begin to move and the higher the temperature of an object, the more the atoms and molecules will be moving which will produce a greater amount of infrared radiation. Objects with a temperature above absolute 0 radiate in infrared including the objects we perceive to be cold or freezing such as ice cubes or objects which are hot but do not visibly appear to be hot emit heat.

These shots of a coffee mug are in three different palettes to show that we assign the colors to gray steps. Human eyes see ten gray steps so to see the colors in definition we can assign 10 colors to them like in these shots. In these, white is hot and black is cool, but we can also invert these so that white is cool and black is hot, this is up to the thermographer.

Analyzing Building Images Acquired at Different Times

A camera user writes:

"I find that images taken of the same structure, not much separated in time, sometimes look very different.  This poses a problem for me as I’m trying to compare the heat images of different houses (to detect homes that need weatherization).  Presently I’m not confident that images of two homes reflect actual differences in the structures, or are caused by minor environmental changes or even by artifacts in the photography.  Here is an example.

Attached are two nighttime images of the front of my house, which faces east.  IR0310 was taken at 10:40 PM, IR0408 at 11:11 PM. (The clock on the camera is two hours fast.)  It was a cold night with little temperature change over the half hour between pictures.  The house thermostat was constant. 

I've set the palette and temperature range to give me good differentiation of houses along the street.  I took the first image of my house as I began imaging houses on my street, and I took the second image when I finished the street scan. 

I am surprised, first, that my house looks so different in the two images. And second, that the outside looks warmer in the later image.  If anything, I'd have expected the outside to have cooled.

Glad for any interpretation of this.  Needless to say, with this kind of variation on a single house, it is hard to get good images for comparing houses. "

Industry Outlook: Re-Envisioning The MRO Model

Written by Andy Teich, President, Commercial Systems Division, FLIR

Despite high unemployment numbers, our industrial base is dealing with a substantial shortage of skilled technicians. In particular, the skills gap has made it difficult to fill an increasing number of MRO roles, including non-destructive testing.

Many factors are at play, not the least of which is a rolling exodus of well-trained baby boomers heading for retirement. Expect skilled technician shortages in the millions, just in the U.S. Several strategies can address this dilemma.

First: training, training, training. It needs to be a key strategy for companies—one that’s protected and defended, even in adverse times. Training improves productivity, quality and job satisfaction. Continuing education keeps skill levels matched to advancing technology and cuts turnover and downtime. Job training and apprenticeship tax credits for companies offering training will go a long way in sustaining this priority.

Fresh thinking about MRO training will drive real progress on this front. Companies can increase access to training by de-emphasizing four-year degree requirements and increasing the role of tiered training certifications and two-year programs...

Read the entire article

Stainless steel reflecting sky temp

This is extracted from a recent message board post:

"I'm curious as to how to adjust for stainless steel reflecting sky temp. The apparent reflected temp of the ground and surroundings is approx 50F. The bottom half of the drum is reflecting this (SP4). The top half is reflecting the sky (SP5). 

In my software, if I set the emissivity to 1, the sky temp in the picture shows -34F.
SP4 and SP5 *should* be the same temp, within a few degrees, based on the operation of the equipment. If I enter 50F as RAT for SP4, I have to enter -95F as RAT for SP5 to get the two temperatures to match.

Why is it -95F and not -34F for SP5? I want to make sure I'm understanding and looking at the image correctly. "

Click image to enlarge

 

Using Cavities to Solve Emissivity Problems, Here's the Drill

by Bernie Lyon

Here are two illustrations that I have created to demonstrate how the cavity effect works.

Referring to Figure 1, the “ideal” block has an emissivity of 0.2 and a reflectivity of 0.8  We are assuming that these values are constant and do not change with angle. This is not the case. If thermal radiation strikes a single surface, 20% of the radiation is absorbed and 80% is reflected. (Keep in mind 20% of the radiation – Not the temperature!) If it strikes another surface before exiting, 20% of what remains is absorbed and 80% of that is reflected, and so on.

Therefore, with multiple reflections caused  by cavities, the effective emissivity, or emittance, increases, while the effective reflectivity decreases. This is the reason why holes and cavities appear dark.  They reflect less visible light.

Call for Papers - 7th International Infrared Conference InfraR&D

Thermography in R&D, Industry and Automation

April 25^th and 26^th, 2012, at the Hannover Fair.

After the great success of the Infrared Conference InfraR&D the last few years, ITC is pleased to announce its popular international event for thermographers working in Research & Development, Industry and Automation in April 2012.

With presenters from six countries, the recent 2011 conference was attended by delegates from more than 12 countries.

InfraR&D is a true user conference built upon the commitment of the presenters and the interest of the delegates. The conference is a professional meeting place for scientists, engineers and users of advanced infrared measurement equipment. InfraR&D covers IR physics and applications in a wide variety of fields, from veterinary surveys, optical gas imaging to advanced NDT solutions and all in between.

You are welcome to submit a contribution of a:

• long paper – duration of the presentation about 40 minutes
• short paper - duration of the presentation about 20 minutes
• poster
• demonstration or
• reflection and background paper – highlight trends and technologies with future importance for the field of thermography and IR measurements.

The conference language is English. Please submit title and abstract to one of the E-mail addresses below before November 1st 2011.

Online Thermography Training Courses

ITC has made the following courses available to IR camera users.
WEB-TH10 Thermography Basics This course is a primer or first course in thermography and serves as an excellent, and recommended, addition to the infrared camera basics operation courses. Thermography involves more than just learning how to use an infrared camera. IR science, heat transfer, thermal tuning, and application knowledge are all essential subjects. 2 ITC Certification Renewal, 2 RCI Continuing Educational Hours (CEHs). This course is FREE.
WEB-TH20 Introduction to Indoor Electrical Surveys using IR Thermography This introductory course is designed to give you a straight forward explanation of how Infrared technology fits in the indoor electrical inspection industry. This course is a replay of a webinar session hosted by an Infrared Training Center instructor and webinar director. This course earns 1 ITC Certification Renewal Credit.
WEB-TH25 Introduction to Outdoor Electrical Surveys using IR Thermography
This introductory course is designed to give you a straight forward explanation of how Infrared technology fits in the outdoor electrical inspection industry. This course is a replay of a webinar session hosted by an Infrared Training Center instructor and webinar director. This course earns 1 ITC Certification Renewal Credit.
WEB-TH30 Introduction to Residential Energy Audits using IR Thermography This introductory course is designed to give you a straight forward explanation of how Infrared technology fits into the residential energy auditing industry. This course earns 1 ITC Certification Renewal Credit. UPDATED February 18, 2011.

Outstanding STS-134 Ascent Imagery Highlights video link

This video makes me proud I was able to contribute to the shuttle thermal imaging program; and makes me sad that it is ending.

It has an outstanding collection of visible and infrared imagery; superbly edited with a great score - just about the best combination of the Science of Imagery Analysis and the Art of “Film” Editing.

 

WEB-IR40 E Series Basics Course

Description This course covers basic operation for all new (2011) FLIR E Series cameras. This includes the E30, E40, E50, E60, and E30 bx, E40 bx, E50 bx, and E60 bx models. There is NO CHARGE for this FREE course.
We will discuss the controls of the camera as well as the user interface, and show you how to operate your camera.
Who should take this course: This course is intended for users of FLIR E Series infrared cameras.
Prerequisites: No prior knowledge of thermography is required.
Availability: This course is an on-demand self paced web based training course available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can begin as soon as you enroll.
Click here to go the course registration page.
This course teaches you how to use the features of the E Series cameras, but doesn't teach you thermography; when to use the features, how to make measurements, and how to interpret the thermal patterns on the screen.
We highly recommend you take a thermography course after finishing this basics course. We offer the On-Demand Thermography Basics class here, or Level I, or Residential Energy Auditing available at http://www.infraredtraining.com/ .

New book on IR imaging: the ultimate resource for all users

The new up to date book “Infrared thermal imaging – fundamentals, research and applications” by Michael Vollmer and Klaus-Peter Möllmann from the University of Applied Sciences in Brandenburg / Germany gives a straightforward introduction to thermography.

The hard cover book is in full color with about 600 pages and more than 600 images. It may either serve as textbook for beginners or as handbook for expert practitioners such that it may become an ultimate resource for every user of thermography.

Due to the modular structure, readers can start studying whatever they like, be it the theoretical background of cameras, detectors, thermal radiation and heat transfer or be it for example applications for building science, detection of gases and the study of micro systems. A multitude of other applications is also included such as electrical and miscellaneous industrial applications (metal, car, aircraft), medical and veterinary studies, the use in sports and arts as well as surveillance and fascinating investigations in nature.

published in the US : October 2010, available from Wiley for 170.- US $ (or 204.- CD $)

See http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-3527407170.html

or to be ordered from any bookstore like Amazon etc