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All| There are 109 entries in the glossary. |
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| Absolute Zero | The temperature at which all molecular motion ceases. This is the lowest theoretically possible temperature. |
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| Absorptance (Absorptivity) | The fraction of the infrared energy entering a target that is absorbed by the target. See Conservation of Energy. |
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| ACS (Advanced Camera for Surveys) | This will consist of three electronic cameras and a complement of filters and dispersers that detect light from the ultraviolet at 1,200 angstroms to the near infrared at 10,000 angstroms, operating at 10 times the efficiency of current instruments. |
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| Aerial Thermal Camera | A sensor and lens combination that produces an image (camera) of heat (thermal) differences in a scene and is designed to be mounted on an airborne vehicle. Most commonly aerial thermal cameras are mounted to helicopter platforms and utilize gyro stabilization for a smooth image. An aerial thermal camera can also be mounted on fixed wing aircraft. In a fixed wing scenario the thermal camera is usually mounted inside the aircraft looking down through a camera hole in the fusilage. |
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| Agema 110 | A very early commercial infrared camera system manufactured by the now conglomerated Swedish company Agema. The 110 is a handheld scanning type thermal camera system with an external battery pack. The 110 produces a reasonable thermal picture in a distinctive green monochrome display but without any modern features. The 110 is also known as the military unit AN/PAS-7. These systems are sometimes available used from http://www.imaging1.com |
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| Agema 210 | The Agema 210 is the next evolution of the Agema 110 from now conglomerated Swedish company Agema. The 210 is a similar scanning type camera to the 110 (w/external battery pack) but with a much improved greyscale image and some basic features most notably video output. The Agema 210 is sometimes available used from http://www.imaging1.com |
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| Agema 510 | The Agema 510 is the next step in the 110-210 product line. The Agema 510 is regarded as the first true modern infrared camera with a reasonable feature set. The 510 uses an internal rechargeable battery, handheld design, digital zoom, gain level control, video output and freeze frame. The Agema 510 is a scanning type system and produces a reasonable gray scale image. |
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| Airy Disk | A measure of spatial resolution in imaging systems. The Airy disk is the bright “inner fringe” of the diffraction pattern produced by an ideal optical system. |
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| Ambient | Local conditions around the object of interest. |
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| Analog Signal | A continuously varying signal, as opposed to a discretely varying (digital) signal. |
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| Anomoly | An area or object within a thermal image that is different than what is expected and which cannot be explained by normal visual, environmental, or historical information. |
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| Aspect Ratio | The ratio of image frame width to height. |
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| Atmospheric Attenuation | Absorption of the infrared energy by the atmosphere between the target object and the detector. Usually only a factor over very long distances. |
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| Back Surface Mirror | A mirror that has the metallic coating (called ‘silvering’) on the back surface of a piece of glass, to prevent scratching of the metallic surface. |
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| Background- | The area within a scene that does not include the target of interest. |
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| Bandwidth- | The range of frequencies over which a device is capable of operating within a specified performance limit. |
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| Barium Strontium Titanate (BST) | A detector material often used in longwave, uncooled detectors. BST is particularly noted as a sensor material immune to solar radiation and other damaging high intensity infrared sources. |
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| Black Hot | Infrared (‘thermal’) images are inherently grayscale images. Objects that give the strongest thermal signature can either be displayed as ‘black-hot’, meaning that the strongest thermal signature is displayed in black (or dark colors), or ‘white-hot’, meaning the strongest thermal signature would be displayed in white (or light colors). |
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| Blackbody | A black body is a device that emits infrared radiation but does not transmit or reflect infrared radiation. A theoretical \\\"perfect emitter\\\" blackbodys in practical application are used to calibrate Infrared Cameras by presenting the camera with a known target that is constant in temperature and emissivity. Typical blackbodies are boxes with a heating element inside that have a large internal dimension compared to a small opening (hole) in the front at which the camera system is aimed. |
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| Blackbody Radiation | The infrared energy emitted by a blackbody device for use in calibrating thermal camera systems. |
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| Blooming | Image spreading and masking adjacent areas. This generally occurs in Infrared Sensors that do not hav ethe dynamic range to image the given scene and so the over or under parts of the image become highly saturated or \"Bloom\". |
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| Bolometer | An infrared detector which absorbs the IR radiation and warms slightly; the electrical resistance across the bolometer changes as a function of temperature, which can be measured and calibrated. |
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| BTU (British Thermal Unit) | In the English measuring system, the BTU is the unit of heat. One BTU is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. |
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| Calcium Fluoride | A material sometimes used for optical elements such as windows or lenses for NIR or MWIR imagers in certain situations. This material is visibly transparent, and as such is a common choice for systems in which visible access is required, in addition to MWIR transmission. However, this material tends to fog in the presence of water vapor, so it does not work well for external window applications. |
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| Calorie (Also Gram-Calorie) | Not to be confused with the nutrionalist’s definition of calories, the gram-calorie (also referred to as the calorie) is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. This is equivalent to 4.186 Joules of energy in the SI measuring system. The ‘nutritional’ calorie is equal to one kilogram-calorie, i.e., the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. |
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| Celsius | The unit of temperature in the SI measuring system. Celsius is the temperature system referenced to the freezing & boiling points of water at sea level; 0 degrees C is freezing, and 100 degrees C is boiling (for water). One degree C is equal to one degree Kelvin (K), but the Kelvin units are referenced to absolute zero. 1 degree C I approximately equal to 0.556 degrees F. |
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| Centigrade | Another way of saying Celsius which is the unit of temperature in the SI measuring system. Celsius is the temperature system referenced to the freezing & boiling points of water at sea level; 0 degrees C is freezing, and 100 degrees C is boiling (for water). One degree C is equal to one degree Kelvin (K), but the Kelvin units are referenced to absolute zero. 1 degree C I approximately equal to 0.556 degrees F. |
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| Conservation of Energy | As it applies to infrared imaging, this means that the sum (in terms of percentages) of the energy absorbed, transmitted, and reflected by an object must add up to 100%. Within the assumptions of Kirchoff’s Law, the energy absorbed is equal to the energy emitted. |
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| contact us | To contact us, send an email to info(at)raz-ir.com or call 702-369-3966 and ask for Jim Santana |
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| Contrast | Most IR cameras can manipulate the image to provide better ‘contrast’ between brighter or darker objects. Increasing the contrast to improve the difference between such targets can cause the image to become saturated if a brighter target then comes into view. Many camera systems use the terminology ‘gain’, instead of contrast. While these terms are not strictly synonymous, their effect on the image is similar. |
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| Convection | One of the three possible modes of heat transfer (the others are conduction and radiation), this refers to heat transfer when a moving fluid (can be liquid or gas) is present; the heat is transferred by the bulk motion of the fluid. |
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| Cooled Detectors | This refers to infrared detectors that must be actively cooled to cryogenic temperatures (often, around 70-80 K) to operate. |
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| COS (Cosmic Origins Spectrograph) | Fourth Generation Spectrometer. COS is an ultraviolet spectrograph optimised for observing faint point sources with moderate spectral resolution. |
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| Crosshair | An intersecting vertical and horizontal line placed on the thermal imager display. This generally indicates the point at which the infrared camera is measuring the target temperature. The crosshair can also be used as a targeting reticle in appropriately equiped thermal imagers. |
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| Delta T | The difference (Delta) in temperature (T) of two points in a scene. This is the most common means of analyzing objects in predictive maintenance infrared sureveys as it gives the most accurate results. Typically we use the difference between the temperatures of the target and the background as the DELTA T. |
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| Detection Range | The maximum range at which a specified target can be detected, though not identified. For military/security applications, the target is often specified as either an upright, 6’ man, or a vehicle such as a pickup truck. |
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| Dew Point | (dew-point temperature) The temperature to which a given parcel of air must be cooled at constant pressure and constant water-vapor content in order for saturation to occur. When this temperature is below 0 °C, it is called the frost point. |
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| Diffuse Surface | A surface that emits or reflects evenly in all directions, regardless of the direction of the incoming light (in the case of reflection). |
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| Digital Signal | A discretely varying signal, as opposed to a continuously varying (analog) signal. |
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| Digitization | The process of breaking up an analog signal into a discrete, or ‘digital’ signal. |
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| Discrimination Range | The maximum range at which a specified target can be identified by target type. See “Detection Range”. |
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| Dynamic Range | The maximum temperature range that can be observed by the thermal imaging system without saturation of the thermal image. |
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| Electromagnetic Radiation | These waves travel at the speed of light (approximately 3 x 108 m/s), and can be characterized by their wavelength. |
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| Electromagnetic Spectrum | The electromagnetic spectrum describes all the possible electromagnetic radiation in the universe. Electromagnetic radiation consists of particles of energy that move through space in a wave. The distance between wave peaks is called the wavelength and is used to describe the different forms of electromagnetic radiation. The spectrum includes gamma, xray, ultraviolet, visible, Infrared, microwaves and radio waves. Fundamentally, everything from the light that we see to the xrays the doctor uses to the microwaves that cook our food are the same electromagnetic energy with a different wave length. For example in the infrared region as an object gets hotter its wavelength gets shorter. If the object is hot enough it will begin to emit energy in the neighboring visible spectrum. This is why light bulbs light-up and hot molten metal glows brightly. |
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| Emittance | The ratio of the energy emitted by an object to the energy that a ‘perfect’ emitter (blackbody) would emit at the same temperature. Related to absorptance through the assumptions in Kirchoff’s Law. See Conservation of Energy. |
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| Error Analysis (Uncertainty Analysis) | A method by which the uncertainty in a measurement is quantified, to give an indication of ‘how good’ a measurement is. |
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| ESA | European Space Agency |
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| EVA | Extravehicular activity; outside the spacecraft; activity in space conducted by suited astronauts. This is also known as a spacewalk. |
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| F Number | The ratio of the focal length of the lens to its optical diameter. Smaller F-number lenses allow more light through; the phrase “stopping down the lens” refers to increasing the F-number, thereby allowing less light in and allowing the thermal imager to image objects at higher temperatures. |
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| Fahrenheit | The unit of temperature in the English measuring system. 32 degrees F is the freezing point of water at sea level, while 212 degrees F is the boiling point. One degree F is equal to 1.8 degrees C. |
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| Field Rate | The product of the frame rate and the interlaced ratio. |
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| Fill Factor | The ratio of active IR detector area to total Thermal detector area. |
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| FLIR | An original US Military anacronym that stands for Forward Looking InfraRed. This came about from the early use of thermal infrared technology aboard aircraft in which the thermal sensor was angled forward for air to ground surveys hence \"Forward Looking\". It has since become a generally accepted term meaning a thermal imaging device particularly in the law enforcement and military community and especially in airborne helicopter imaging applications. It has become so widely accepted as a standard term for thermal imaging that many companies use it in commercial marketing materials and product names. |
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| FOC | Faint Object Camera - First Generation Imaging camera. FOC is used to image very small fields of view, very faint targets. |
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| FPA | FPA stands for Focal Plane Array. A Focal Plane Array is a 2 dimensional array of pixels sensitive to energy in the electromagnetic spectrum. A focal plane array is similar to a CCD chip in a conventional digital format camera but is generally used to refer to an image sensing chip in a thermal infrared camera. The focal plane array converts infrared energy, that is focused onto it by a germanium lens, into an electronic signal that can be displayed on a screen. A Focal Plane Array is an advance over early IR systems that used a single element or row of elements and a mirror scanning optical train to produce a 2 dimensional image for the user. A focal plane is populated with pixels in the X and Y axis doing away with the older line scanning methodology. This is why FPA are also sometimes referred to as Starring arrays or Starring Focal Plane Array. |
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| Frame Rate | The rate at which frames are required, usually expressed in Hz. Standard NTSC framing rate is 29.97 Hz. |
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| Gain | Functionally similar to ‘contrast’ in a visual system, gain sets the span between the minimum and maximum thermal intensities that can be imaged simultaneously. |
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| Germanium | A common crystal material used for optical elements such as lenses or windows in Long Wave Infrared systems. While this material transmits in the LWIR region, it is opaque in the visible region, appearing black. |
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| Gray Body | An “idealized” non-blackbody, in which the emissivity is assumed constant with respect to wavelength. |
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| Ground Truth Data | Collected and measured quantified information that allows an analyst the ability to correlate remotely gathered data and present it in a quantifiable fashion. |
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| Heat Capacity | The amount of heat that must be supplied to a unit mass of material to increase its temperature by one degree. This can be thought of as the resistance of the material to temperature changes. |
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| Heat- | The transfer of energy from one object (or substance) to another. Heat has the same units as energy (Joules, in SI units). |
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| IFOV | Instantaneous Field Of View is the angle over which the thermal detector senses infrared radiation. |
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| Indium Antimonide (InSb) | Detector material used in some shortwave, cooled detectors. |
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| Infrared Camera | A sensor and lens combination that produces an image (camera) of heat (thermal) differences in a scene. Most commonly the term infrared camera is used to refer to a camera for predictive maintenance or scientific applications as opposed to the term thermal camera or thermal imaging camera that usually refers to a surveillance application. True infrared cameras image heat and should not be confused with quasi-infrared cameras that require an infrared light source to radiate the target so they are not passive. Infrared cameras that image heat differences are truly passive systems that emit zero radiation and cannot be detected. |
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| Infrared Cameras | Plural of Infrared Camera meaning multiple units of infrared camera. |
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| Infrared Scope | A sensor and lens combination that produces an image (camera) of heat (thermal) differences in a scene. The term Infrared Scope generally refers to a device that images in the infrared wavelength without having any image storage capability. In addition, an infrared scope usually is synonomous with an infrared weapon sight or infrared targeting scope indicating a device used for aiming a weapon in the infrared spectrum. Second most common usage is to designate a small pocket size monocular device used to image heat energy in the IR spectrum generally for law enforcement and military applications. |
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| Infrared Scopes | Plural of Infrared Scope meaning multiple units of infrared scope. |
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| Integration Time | The time period over which the detector ‘views’ the target. Analogous to exposure time in visual cameras. |
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| IRI | An individual file consists of infrared image, visual image and voice annotation |
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| Kelvin | International temperature scale in which 0°Kelvin represents absolute zero (the point at which no heat energy exists within an object). |
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| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
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| NICMOS | Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer - Second Generation Imager/Spectrograph. |
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| Night Vision Camera | A camera or viewing aid to see in low light or no light scenarios. Generally a night vision camera indicates an image intensified device attached to a camera for recording the scene presented. An infrared camera or thermal imager can also be considered a \"night vision\" camera but it usually implies I2 light amplification image intensified technology and not heat sensing devices. |
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| NIR | Near Infrared – Near Infrared light is not visible to human eyes, but many celestial objects shine brightly with this light. Typically associated with heat, NIR images show the presence of molecules and complex compounds. |
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| PCB | Printed Circuit Board is a non conductive substrate that supports and connects the various electronic components through etched pathways. |
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| Predictive Maintenance | Predictive Maintenance or PDM is the process of using test and measurement technology to asses the current operational health of facility systems, track historical readings and extrapolate this data out into the future to predict maintenance needs avoiding costly downtime and potentially hazardous failures. The most popular PDM technology is infrared scanning of electrical systems in all types of facilities. With an infrared camera and a trained thermographer a given facility can save thousands to millions of dollars in unscheduled downtime and avoid potentially fatal electrical catastrophes. |
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| Psychrometer | An instrument used for measuring the water vapor content of the atmosphere; a type of hygrometer. It consists of two thermometers, one of which (the dry bulb) is an ordinary glass thermometer, while the other (wet bulb) has its bulb covered with a jacket of clean muslin which is saturated with distilled water prior to an observation. When the bulbs are suitably ventilated, they indicate the thermodynamic wet- and dry-bulb temperatures of the atmosphere. One variety is the Assman psychrometer (a special form of aspiration psychrometer for which the ventilation is provided by a suction fan). |
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| Relative Humidity | The ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor in the mixture to the saturated vapor pressure of water at a given temperature. Relative Humidity does not imply how much water the air can hold but simply describes the water that is present in the Air Water mixture. Relative humidity is greatly dependent on temperature and pressure (sea level, elevation, etc.). |
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| rent | You can rent thermal cameras from SPI. Call 702-369-3966 today! |
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| Saphire | A material sometimes used as an optical element such as windows or lenses for Near Infrared or Medium Wavelength Infrared systems. This material transmits well in the visible spectrum, but not at all in the LWIR region. |
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| Signal To Noise Ratio | A measurement of how strong the desired target signal is, compared to the level of background noise. |
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| Solar Loading | Heating of objects by solar radiation. Solar loading will cause background objects (for example, trees or roadways) to appear warmer in the day than at night. |
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| Spatial Resolution | The smallest spatial detail in an image that can be resolved. Spatial resolution is described in a variety of ways, including the IFOV or the Airy disk size (both previously defined). As a broad generalization, spatial resolution is sometimes described in terms of the number of pixels in the imager array (angular FOV of the lens and the range to the target must also be considered). |
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| Spot Temperature Analysis | The ability to measure temperature numerically at a single spot in an image. Typically, low end infrared cameras will have a single crosshair fixed in the center of the display and the camera will read out a basic numeric temperature for that single spot. Advanced infrared cameras will generally have movable spots that allow measurement of any point in the image. Typically, the advanced cameras make spot temperature analysis easier and more accurate with multi spot capability, hot / cold spot auto locate, line and histogram readouts. |
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| Stefan-Boltzmann Law | Describes the total rate of energy emission per unit surface area. The Stefan-Boltzmann Law is the spectrally integrated form of Planck’s Law (integrated over all wavelengths). This result takes the form E=sT4, where E is the rate of energy emitted per unit area, T is the absolute temperature in Kelvin, and s is a constant. |
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| SWIR (Short Wave Infrared) | The spectral region from about 3-5 microns where some imaging systems operate. Also called MWIR or Mid Wavelength Infrared. |
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| Target Signature | The spectral, spatial, and thermal features that distinguish a target from the background. |
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| Thermal Camera | A sensor and lens combination that produces an image (camera) of heat (thermal) differences in a scene. Generally, thermal camera is used in common speach to refer to a camera used in military, law enforcement, search and rescue or fire fighting applications as opposed to maintenance applications in which the term infrared camera is more appropriate. See also \"Infrared Camera\" |
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| Thermal Cameras | Plural of Thermal Camera meaning multiple units of thermal camera. |
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| Thermal Clutter | A condition in which multiple objects with thermal intensities similar to that of the desired target are in the same image as that target. Thermal clutter can make interpretation of images more difficult. |
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| Thermal Contrast | The difference in thermal intensity between a target and the background. |
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| Thermal Imager | A sensor and lens combination that produces an image (camera) of heat (thermal) differences in a scene. This term is somewhat outdated at one time refering to any thermal imager when it is used today it generally refers to a thermal imager for Military, Law Enforcement and Fire/Rescue applications. See also \"Infrared Camera\\\" \\\"Thermal Camera\\\" \\\"Thermal Imaging Camera\\\" |
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| Thermal Imaging | The act of imaging in the thermal infrared wavelength. Commonly refers to camera systems. |
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| Thermal Imaging Camera | A camera that images thermal infrared wavelengths. Most commonly the term \"Thermal Imaging Camera\" or \"TIC\" is used to describe a camera used for surveillance or fire fighting applications as opposed to predictive maintenance use. |
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| Thermal Imaging Cameras | Plural of Thermal Imaging Camera meaning multiple units of thermal imaging camera. |
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| Thermal Inertia | The tendency of a target to maintain its instantaneous temperature, even in the presence of an external temperature difference. Objects with large thermal inertia tend to heat up or cool down slowly. |
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| Thermal Resolution | The smallest thermal difference in an image that can be resolved. |
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| Thermal Vision | The ability to \"see\" heat energy with the eyes. While some people have eyes that are more sensitive to the very edge of the infrared spectrum to truly have thermal vision requires the use of technology. |
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| Thermoelectric Cooler (TE) | A cooling system with no moving parts (often used in LWIR systems) based on the Peltier effect, in which the junction between two dissimilar metals can be cooled (or heated) by applying a Voltage potential. |
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| Thermography Camera | A sensor and lens combination that produces an image (camera) of heat (thermal) differences in a scene. The term thermography camera denotes a system used for thermography applications such as predicitive maintenance, energy audit, roof survey and other industrial or medical uses. These types of systems generally measure temperature numerically and have a means of storing the image digitally for analysis and reporting. |
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| Uncooled FPA Microbolometer | A Focal Plane Array that does not require cryogenic cooling in the microbolometer package design. Microbolometer sensors are particularly well suited to radiometric or temperature measurement applications in that they are linear in their thermal response. Most modern Infrared Camera systems used for maintenance applications are microbolometers. |
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| Very Long Wave Infrared | The spectral region from about 15 to about 100 microns. This region is generally not used for imaging systems. |
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| Video Field | Any one of the two or more parts into which a frame is divided in interlaced. |
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| Video Format | The format that a video signal is encoded for playback on similarly encoded equipment. The most common formats are NTSC (USA) and PAL (Euro/Asian). The formats can be converted via relatively inexpensively via stand alone units. Most computer capture solutions will recognize most all common formats. |
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| Water Vapor Signature | Water vapor in the atmosphere will absorb radiant energy in certain broad wavebands; this energy absorption is a function of both the amount of water vapor present, and the distance through the atmosphere that is being considered. While other spectral regions of water vapor absorptions exist (particulary in the NIR and MWIR regions), some of the strongest absorption bands exist between 5-7 microns. |
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| White Hot | Infrared (‘thermal’) images are inherently grayscale images. Objects that give the strongest thermal signature can either be displayed as ‘black-hot’, meaning that the strongest thermal signature is displayed in black (or dark colors), or ‘white-hot’, meaning the strongest thermal signature would be displayed in white (or light colors). |
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| Wien\'s Law | The wavelength at any given temperature (for a blackbody) that emits the greatest amount of energy is given by Wien’s Law. |
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| Zinc Selenide, Zinc Sulfide: | Materials sometimes used for optical elements such as windows or lenses in infrared systems. Both materials are partially transmissive in the visible region, with a somewhat yellow color. |
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Glossary V2.0 |
Thermal Camera in the world. Above are actual thermal images taken with the RAZ-IR We have more information, videos, links and contact information with an emphasis on electrical audits and monitoring. 
