Article Abstracts | October 2006
The complete article appears in the October 2006 issue of Photonics Spectra. If you do not have a copy of this issue,
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Novel Technology Could Increase Thermal Imaging Use
To increase the use of thermal imaging, a technology that provides a good image
and is low-cost, easily scalable and low in power is required.
by Daniel Ostrower, RedShift Systems Inc.
The desire to “see” in complete darkness or through obscurants such as smoke or fog has driven the development and adoption of thermal imaging technology in numerous industries. Thermal imaging translates a scene’s heat signature — the long-wavelength infrared energy produced in the 8- to 14-μm waveband — into digital data that can be used to produce a visible image or be fed into a computer for interpretation.
Because the thermal energy of a scene is independent of reflected light and because it can travel through obscurants with small particle sizes, thermal imaging is the technology of choice for imaging in the dark or in other difficult environmental conditions...
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