Radiation Thermometry

All objects emit radiation by virtue of the motions of the atoms of which they are made, and since the thermal motion of atoms increases with temperature, so does the radiation emitted. Most of the radiation is in the infrared, but as the temperature increases beyond about 700 C a dull red heat can be seen, which gradually brightens to orange, yellow and finally a brilliant white heat. The effect is very sensitive and radiation thermometry (infrared thermometry, radiation pyrometry) is a powerful method of temperature measurement, even at temperatures down to 40 C. Being a remote-sensing method, it has the advantage that no contact is made with the object being measured. It can measure very hot objects, or moving objects on a production line. Modern detector arrays allow thermal images (colour-coded temperature maps) of objects, structures or environments to be produced. These advantages are offset by some significant disadvantages, viz: The radiation emitted from an object depends not only on its temperature but also on the surface emissivity. This is a property which lies between zero and 1: zero for a perfectly reflecting surface which emits no radiation, and 1, which is the maximum possible and applies to a full or Planckian radiator, known as a blackbody, (so called because it also absorbs all radiation incident on it, and hence appears black, if it is cool enough not to radiate visibly). The emissivity depends on the material and its surface condition (roughness, state of oxidation, etc), It also varies with the temperature, the wavelength and the angle of view. When using a radiation thermometer, the emissivity must be known if the signal measured is to be converted into an accurate temperature. Radiation emitted by heaters or lighting and incident on the target will be partially reflected and add to the radiation which is observed, potentially causing large errors. When measuring low temperatures, heaters may include human beings or even thermal radiation at ordinary ambient temperatures. In practical instruments, optical components are needed to focus the radiation on the detector, usually through a filter to select the wavelength or waveband. Imperfections in the optics may be partly taken into account in the instrument calibration, but they will also lead to an imperfectly defined field of view. Thus, the target size of the instrument may be significantly larger than is intended.

A wide variety of instruments are now available for general use or specific purposes, with various techniques to overcome or mitigate these difficulties. For any given application careful consideration needs to be given as to which solution will be most effective. The calibration of radiation thermometers is usually done using standard blackbody sources, thoughtungsten ribbon lamps are sometimes suitable; see measurement services.