Remote-sensing infrared thermometer with radiation balancing

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Thermometry
• Infrared Technology

Background:

• Accurate remote temperature measurement is crucial in various scientific and industrial applications.
• Existing infrared thermometers often face limitations in near-ambient temperature ranges and require prior emissivity data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel infrared thermometer (IRT) for remote temperature measurement.
• To extend the radiation-balancing method to near-ambient temperatures.
• To enable simultaneous remote measurement of temperature and emissivity without prior knowledge.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel infrared thermometer (IRT) utilizing a radiation-balancing method.
• Extension of the radiation-balancing technique to near-ambient temperatures by varying a built-in blackbody temperature.
• Introduction of a second, heated blackbody to eliminate the need for cooling in subambient measurements.
• Theoretical analysis to demonstrate the IRT's capability for measuring emissivity, current, and voltage.

Main Results:

• Successful extension of the radiation-balancing method to the near-ambient temperature range (-20-100 K above ambient).
• Demonstration of the IRT's ability to remotely measure total emissivity, electric current, and voltage.
• Proposal of resistive inserts for enhanced current measurement accuracy.
• Development of a method for simultaneous remote measurement of absolute temperature and emissivity using dual-band radiation balancing.

Conclusions:

• The novel IRT offers accurate remote temperature measurement across a wide ambient range.
• The developed method eliminates the need for prior emissivity data for simultaneous temperature and emissivity determination.
• The IRT has potential applications in measuring electrical properties of distant objects.