Thermal Imaging is a method of using infrared radiation and thermal energy to gather information about objects, in order to formulate images of them, even in low visibility environments. It’s a type of technology that has built up a broad range of uses over the years. In particular, it’s an effective form of night-vision technology, with the capability to work in the total absence of any light (since it doesn’t rely on visible light), and can even work in smoke, fog, smog, and haze. Thermal imaging is based upon the science of infrared energy (otherwise known as “heat”), which is emitted from all objects. This energy from an object is also referred to as the “heat signature”, and the quantity of radiation emitted tends to be proportional to the overall heat of the object.
Thermal cameras or thermal imagers are sophisticated devices comprised of a sensitive heat sensor with the capacity to pick up minute differences in temperature. As they gather the infrared radiation from objects in a particular environment, they can start to map out an image based on the differences and inflexions of the temperature measurements.