
Infrared Imaging

To capture temperature remotely from hot emitting bodies, thermal detectors are commonly used. These devices measure apparent temperatures that, depending on the way in which they are determined, can be classified as brightness temperatures, colour temperatures, and total radiation temperatures (e.g., Kruse et al., 1962, Bramson, 1968). Brightness temperature is the temperature of a blackbody that would emit the same amount of radiation as the targeted body in a specified spectral band. Colour temperature is defined as the temperature of a blackbody for which the ratio of the spectral radiant emittance at two specified wavelengths is the same as the ratio of the spectral radiant emittance by the targeted body at the same wavelengths. The total radiation temperature corresponds to the temperature at which a blackbody has the same integrated (over the spectrum) radiance as a targeted body.


