Infrared Thermal Imaging: Fundamentals, Research and Applications

Abstract

Ten years ago, a book with a title like this would be interesting only to a narrow circle of specialists. Thanks to rapid advances in technology, the price of thermal imaging devices has dropped sharply, so they have, almost overnight, become accessible to a wide range of users. As the authors point out in the preface, the growth of this area has led to a paradoxical situation: now there are probably more infrared (IR) cameras sold worldwide than there are people who understand the basic physics behind them and know how to correctly interpret the colourful images that are obtained with these devices. My experience confirms this. When I started using the IR camera during lectures on the didactics of physics, I soon realized that I needed more knowledge, which I later found in this book.A wide range of potential readers and topical areas provides a good motive for writing a book such as this one, but it also represents a major challenge for authors, as compromises in the style of writing and choice of topics are required. The authors of this book have successfully achieved this, and indeed done an excellent job. This book addresses a wide range of readers, from engineers, technicians, and physics and science teachers in schools and universities, to researchers and specialists who are professionally active in the field. As technology in this area has made great progress in recent times, this book is also a valuable guide for those who opt to purchase an infrared camera. Chapters in this book could be divided into three areas: the fundamentals of IR thermal imaging and related physics (two chapters); IR imaging systems and methods (two chapters) and applications, including six chapters on pedagogical applications; IR imaging of buildings and infrastructure, industrial applications, microsystems, selected topics in research and industry, and selected applications from other fields. All chapters contain numerous colour pictures and diagrams, and a rich list of relevant literature.Let's devote a few more words to the section on pedagogical applications. It is the usual perception that the use of IR cameras for educational purposes is limited primarily to help visualize processes in thermodynamics such as heat conduction, evaporation, radiation and convection. In this book the authors show that the range of pedagogical applications of IR cameras is much wider. They describe concrete examples (from the descriptions it is clear that the authors have performed all experiments themselves) from mechanics (friction, inelastic collisions), electromagnetism (eddy currents, thermoelectric effect, analysis of standing waves in the microwave oven), optics (specular and diffuse reflection, wave optics in the IR region) and modern physics (selective absorption in gases). Readers who may want to repeat the experiments will appreciate the colour IR photos that are equipped with temperature scales from which one may learn which settings to use in order to achieve the best visibility of the phenomena to be observed.As said earlier, the decision to write a book for a wide range of readers requires authors to make certain compromises. The inclusion of interpretations and explanations at a basic level will certainly be welcomed by some readers, but due to the limited space some simplifications of this type of content were inevitable. Readers who might be put off by these simplifications should bear in mind that there are few authors who describe specialized topics such as this one and devote so much space to fundamentals. One can only wish that future authors of similar books will try to meet the standards set by this one.