Surface Thermal Emission Research Articles

Quantitative risk assessment of a spill fire caused by the continuously leaked fuel in a sealed ship engine room

There are a large number of high-temperature heat sources in a ship engine room. Once the oil leakage occurs, it is likely to be ignited and form a spreading and burning spill fire. In this paper, spill fire experiments are conducted in a model-scale ship engine room to investigate their characteristic parameters. The quantitative models of flame height and thermal radiant surface emission power applicable to such fires are verified by the experimental data. Based on that, the classical quantitative risk assessment method is adopted to assess the risk of spill fires using thermal radiation hazard as the main reference, and a detailed framework for quantitative risk assessment of spill fires in ship engine room is established, which includes hazard identification, probability of failure calculation, consequence assessment, and risk quantification. The possible causes of spill fire accidents are briefly analyzed based on the bow-tie model. In cases where thermal threats above the risk threshold for larger leakage rates (70 mL/min), the probability method outperforms the threshold method in terms of accuracy in risk quantification. Additionally, the variation of thermal radiation with combustion diameter is analyzed, and some recommendations for fire emergency rescue are presented.

A WISPR of the Venus Surface: Analysis of the Venus Nightside Thermal Emission at Optical Wavelengths

Parker Solar Probe (PSP) conducted several flybys of Venus while using Venus’ gravity for orbital adjustments to enable its daring passes of the Sun. During these flybys, PSP turned to image the nightside of Venus using the Wide-field Imager for Solar PRobe (WISPR) optical telescopes, which unexpectedly observed Venus’ surface through its thick and cloudy atmosphere in a theorized, but until-then unobserved near-visible spectral window below 0.8 μm. We use observations taken during PSP’s fourth Venus gravity assist flyby to examine the origin of the Venus nightside flux and confirm the presence of this new atmospheric window through which to observe the surface geology of Venus. The WISPR images are well explained by emission from the hot Venus surface escaping through a new atmospheric window in the optical with an overlying emission component from the atmosphere at the limb that is consistent with O2 nightglow. The surface thermal emission correlates strongly with surface elevation (via temperature) and emission angle. Tessera and plains units have distinct WISPR brightness values. Controlling for elevation, Ovda Regio tessera is brighter than Thetis Regio; likewise, the volcanic plains of Sogolon Planitia are brighter than the surrounding regional plains units. WISPR brightness at 0.8 μm is predicted to be positively correlated to FeO content in minerals; thus, the brighter units may have a different starting composition, be less weathered, or have larger particle sizes.

Observational connection of non-thermal X-ray emission from pulsars with their timing properties and thermal emission

ABSTRACTThe origin and radiation mechanisms of high-energy emissions from pulsars have remained mysterious since their discovery. Here we report, based on a sample of 68 pulsars, observational connection of non-thermal X-ray emissions from pulsars with their timing properties and thermal emissions, which may provide some constraints on theoretical modeling. Besides strong correlations with the spin-down power $\dot{E}$ and the magnetic field strength at the light cylinder Blc, the non-thermal X-ray luminosity in 0.5–8 keV, Lp, represented by the power-law component in the spectral model, is found to be strongly correlated with the highest possible electric field strength in the polar gap, Epc, of the pulsar. The spectral power index Γp of that power-law component is also found, for the first time in the literature, to strongly correlate with $\dot{E}$, Blc, and Epc, thanks to the large sample. In addition, we found that Lp can be well described by Lp ∝ T5.96 ± 0.64R2.24 ± 0.18, where T and R are the surface temperature and the emitting-region radius of the surface thermal emission, represented by the blackbody component in the spectral model. Γp, on the other hand, can be well described only when timing variables are included and the relation is $\Gamma _{\rm p}= \log (T^{-5.8\pm 1.93}R^{-2.29\pm 0.85}P^{-1.19\pm 0.88}\dot{P}^{0.94\pm 0.44})$ plus a constant. These relations strongly suggest the existence of connections between surface thermal emission and electron–positron pair production in pulsar magnetospheres.

Equation of state and surface thermal emission of magnetized white dwarfs

AbstractThe observation and theoretical study of massive magnetized white dwarfs is one of the most important topics in the field of astronomy. This paper aims to obtain a coupled magneto‐thermal evolution model of magnetized white dwarfs (B‐WDs). As a fiducial model, we choose a non‐magnetized WD with a baryonic mass M0 = 1.37 M⊙ (M⊙ is the solar mass) for comparison with the magnetized cases. Firstly, we give an overview of the WD cooling, then study the equation of the state of a B‐WD. We find that the WD mass increases with magnetic field strength B, while its radius decreases with B, and the minimum of B required to reach the Chandrasecka limit is about 3.2 × 1014 G. Finally, by introducing the magnetic‐to‐thermal conversion coefficient ξ, and taking the temperature effect on the stellar radius into consideration, we calculate the luminosities of thermal photons Lph and surface effective temperature, Teff due to Ohmic dissipation for B‐WDs. According to our calculations, magnetic field decay can definitely maintain a long‐term thermal evolution for massive B‐WDs. This study will be useful for the study of internal thermal evolution and internal stability of B‐WDs in the future.

Occultation Mapping of Io’s Surface in the Near-infrared. I. Inferring Static Maps

Abstract With hundreds of active volcanoes varying in intensity on different timescales, Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system. Io has been observed from Earth using high-cadence near-infrared photometry during occultations by Jupiter and other Galilean moons since the 1980s. These observations encode a wealth of information about the volcanic features on its surface. We built a generative model for the observed occultation light curves using the code starry, which enables fast, analytic, and differentiable computation of occultation light curves in emitted and reflected light. Using this model, we are able to recover surface thermal emission maps of Io containing known volcanic hot spots without having to make assumptions about the locations, shapes, or number of hot spots. Our model is also directly applicable to the problem of mapping the surfaces of stars and exoplanets.

Effect of Surface Microstructure on the Heat Dissipation Performance of Heat Sinks Used in Electronic Devices.

Heat sinks are widely used in electronic devices with high heat flux. The design and build of microstructures on heat sinks has shown effectiveness in improving heat dissipation efficiency. In this paper, four kinds of treatment methods were used to make different microstructures on heat sink surfaces, and thermal radiation coating also applied onto the heat sink surfaces to improve thermal radiation. The surface roughness, thermal emissivity and heat dissipation performance with and without thermal radiation coating of the heat sinks were studied. The result shows that with an increase of surface roughness, the thermal emissivity can increase up to 2.5 times. With thermal radiation coating on a surface with microstructures, the heat dissipation was further improved because the heat conduction at the coating and heat sink interface was enhanced. Therefore, surface treatment can improve the heat dissipation performance of the heat sink significantly by enhancing the thermal convection, radiation and conduction.

Dynamic thermal radiation modulators via mechanically tunable surface emissivity

Inspired by cephalopods, we design a hybrid structure comprised of a rigid film with a low thermal emissivity and a substrate with a high thermal emissivity combined with a stretchable heater. The film’s topography is characterized by distributed strain-dependent micro-cracks, enabling the exposure of the substrate to be tuned by the applied strain. Thus, the effective surface thermal emissivity originating from the combination of the film and the exposed substrate can be instantaneously and reversibly modulated simply via mechanical means. The system exhibits various pronounced advantages, including ease of fabrication, low working temperature, broad emissivity modulation range, observing angle independence, excellent reversibility, instantaneous response, high strain sensitivity, feasibility for patterning and multiplexing, and autonomous actuation. Additionally, the system demonstrates intriguing thermographic-based applications in finger motion sensing, information encryption, multiplexing display, and thermal camouflage. Therefore, this work can facilitate the invention of next-generation thermal modulators with autonomous, on-demand, and board-range control.

Axion Emission Can Explain a New Hard X-Ray Excess from Nearby Isolated Neutron Stars

Axions may be produced thermally inside the cores of neutron stars (NSs), escape the stars due to their feeble interactions with matter, and subsequently convert into x rays in the magnetic fields surrounding the stars. We show that a recently discovered excess of hard x-ray emission in the 2-8keV energy range from the nearby magnificent seven isolated NSs could be explained by this emission mechanism. These NSs are unique in that they had previously been expected to only produce observable flux in the UV and soft x-ray bands from thermal surface emission at temperatures ∼100 eV. No conventional astrophysical explanation of the magnificent seven hard x-ray excess exists at present. We show that the hard x-ray excess may be consistently explained by an axionlike particle with mass m_{a}≲2×10^{-5} eV and g_{aγγ}×g_{ann}∈(2×10^{-21},10^{-18}) GeV^{-1} at 95%confidence, accounting for both statistical and theoretical uncertainties, where g_{aγγ} (g_{ann}) is the axion-photon (axion-neutron) coupling constant.

Equilibrium temperature of a spectral selective solar light absorber with angular dependent thermal emissivity

We develop an angular dependent thermal emissivity model by using the directional radiation pattern of short dipole antennas randomly oriented on a surface to predict the maximally achievable equilibrium temperature of spectral selective solar light absorbers. Equilibrium temperatures of ideal spectral selective solar light absorbers are calculated with the new surface thermal emissivity model.

Comparative investigation of linear and nonlinear optical properties of As–70 at% Te thin films: influence of Ga content

Thin films (~ 150 nm) of amorphous As30Te70−xGax (where x = 0, 1, 3, 6, and 10 at%) are prepared through thermal evaporation of As30Te70−xGax bulk samples on glass substrates. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals the amorphous nature of the as-prepared As30Te70−xGax thin films. The influence of Ga content on the As30Te70−xGax thin films’ linear and nonlinear optical properties is determined based on the optical reflectance and transmittance spectra. The estimated (direct or indirect) optical bandgap decreases with an increase in Ga content up to 3 at% and then increases, whereas the Urbach energy exhibits an opposite trend. The linear and nonlinear refractive indices, extension coefficient, optical conductivity, electrical conductivity and nonlinear susceptibility, optical density, inter-band transition strength, etc., are found to be significantly influenced by Ga content and the energy of incident waves. The As30Te67Ga3 composition can be considered as a puzzling compound as most of the investigated parameters in As30Te70−xGax alloys demonstrate opposite behaviors around that composition. Moreover, the optical surface resistance and thermal emission of As30Te70−xGax thin films are estimated from the investigated optical parameters and it was found that they are dependent on Ga content. The obtained results enhanced basic understanding and showed that the As–Te–Ga system qualifies for various optoelectronic applications.

DETECTION AND DELINEATION OF SUBSURFACE COAL MINE FIRE FROM SPACEBORNE THERMAL INFRARED DATA IN JHARIA COALFIELD, DHANBAD, INDIA

Abstract. Coal fire has been found to be a major problem worldwide in coal mining areas. The surrounding areas get hugely affected, and significant amount of reserves are wasted due to the burning of coal. This severely affects the environment condition, which leads to a rise in temperature of the region, which is a major reason for climate change. Greenhouse gases like CO2 SO2 NO CH4 are also emitted from the cracks and fissures. Large masses of the burning of coal also causes land subsidence and collapse. Underground coal fires ignited by natural causes or human error leads to atmospheric pollution, acid rain, land subsidence, and increased coronary and respiratory diseases. They consume a valuable energy resource, destroy floral and faunal habitats, and promote human suffering because of heat, subsidence, and pollution. Jharia Coalfield, Jharkhand, India, is well known for being the storehouse of prime coking coal and for accommodating the maximum number of coal fires among all the coalfields in the country. In this paper, some of the important issues of coal fire mapping from satellite thermal infrared data have been addressed in particular reference to Jharia Coalfield. Namely, these are: retrieval of spectral radiance from raw digital satellite data using scene-specific calibration coefficients of the detectors from metadata, thermal emissivity of surface to obtain kinetic temperature at each ground resolution cell of satellite data, field-based modelling of pixel-integrated temperature for differentiating surface and subsurface fire pixels in Landsat 8 thermal IR data, identification of surface coal fire locations from infrared data and lateral propagation of coal fire.

Mapping urban greenery to create the optimal cooling effect model against solar radiation under the conditions of a smart city

Abstract. Current climate changes on a global scale require an optimal estimate of heat transfer in a complex urban environment as a part of the requirements for optimal urban planning in the conditions of a smart city. Urban greenery has a considerable impact on the cooling of the urban environment during thermal waves. Sentinel-2 as an Earth observation mission developed by the European Space Agency as part of the Copernicus Programme to perform terrestrial observations in support of various services could become a potential means also for quantified assessment of different urban scenarios where vegetation plays an essential role. The Sentinel-2 data provide higher spatial and temporal resolution than other similar missions allow.The presented research study is aimed at exploiting the potential of Sentinel-2 in simulating the cooling effect of urban greenery as part of smart city mapping in assessing the quality of life of its inhabitants. The main objective of the research study is to define a methodical approach for spatial surface temperature modelling in selected urban areas based on the solar radiation modelling and parameterization of the land cover properties from the Sentinel-2 data. While solar irradiation can be accurately calculated at a fine scale using virtual 3D city models, it is difficult to find other important parameters for ground surface modelling such as surface thermal emissivity, broadband albedo and evapotranspiration. The research study was tested and verified in 4 sq. km urban area in the selected central parts of the city of Košice in Slovakia (Figure 1). For a detailed survey, four sites (site 1 – Moyzesova Street, site 2 – Historical centre, site 3 – City park, site 4 – Hvozdíkov park) were chosen in the central city area. The virtual 3D urban model was created from the airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging, hereinafter referred to as the lidar) and photogrammetric data obtained in a single mission.The aim of the research study was to assess the feasibility of using virtual 3D city models and multispectral satellite images to approximate surface temperature dynamics by modelling of the spatial distribution of solar radiation and land surface characteristics in a complex urban environment. A time-series of the Sentinel-2 data was collected for comparison with the reference time series of the terrestrial lidar (TLS – Terrestrial Laser Scanning) data on urban greenery on four selected urban areas of the city of Košice. Between the vegetation metrics, the statistical linear relationship derived from the Sentinel-2 and TLS data was defined. Based on terrain mapping, a geobotanic database of urban trees was created. The algorithmic structure of a toolbox for the land surface temperature modelling in the open-source GRASS GIS was developed based on the Stefan-Boltzmann law and Kirchhoff rule.This research study has highlighted how the Sentinel-2 data can be used to estimate of the broad-band albedo, surface emission, and solar transmittance to the vegetation of urban greenery. The main benefit of the research study is the developed algorithm for estimation of the land surface temperature in a GIS environment that provides a unique platform for integrating different types of data-sets to become usable in urban planning and for exploitation of the Sentinel-2 data in mitigation of a negative impact of the urban extreme heat islands on the quality of life of inhabitants. The resulting LST (Land Surface Temperature) was calculated for four scenarios using the detail of the study area of the site 1 (Figure 2) and whole study are (Figure 3) demonstrate. These figures also show the cooling effect of urban trees and shrubs.

Urban thermal micro-mapping using satellite imagery and ground-truth measurements: Kyiv city area case study

The aim of this research is to enhance approaches existing for the assessment of cities thermal conditions under climate change impact by using multispectral satellite data for Kyiv city area. This paper describes the method and results of the Earth’s surface temperature (LST) and thermal emissivity calculation. Particularly, the thermal distribution was estimated based on spectral densities according to Planck’s law for “grey bodies” by using the Landsat-8 TIRS and Sentinel-2 MSI satellite imagery. Furthermore, the result was calibrated by ground data collected during the ground-truth measurements of the typical city surfaces temperature and thermal emissivity. The spatial resolution of the LST images obtained was enhanced by using the approach of subpixel processing, that is the pairs of invariant images shifted with subpixel accuracy. As a result, such an approach allowed to enhance the spatial resolution of the image up 46%, which is much higher than the potential performance of the thermal imaging sensors existing. The interrelation between the Earth’s surface type and the temperature was revealed by the results of the Sentinel-2A MSI image of 21 August 2017 supervised classification. Thus, the image was divided into the six major classes of the urban environment: building’s rooftops, roads surface, bare soil, grass, wood, and water. As a result, surfaces with vegetation much more cool next to artificial ones. The time-series analysis of 18 thermal images (Landsat TM and Landsat-8 TIRS) of Kyiv for the period from 6 Jun 1985 till 1 June 2018 was done for spatiotemporal changes investigation. Therefore, the sites of the LST thermal anomalies caused by landscape changes were developed. Among them are the sites of increased LST where thw “Olimpiyskiy” national sport center and adjacent parking was built and the site of decreased LST where the tram depot was liquidated and the territory was flooded.

The sensitivity of the colour of dust in MSG-SEVIRI Desert Dust infrared composite imagery to surface and atmospheric conditions

Abstract. Infrared “Desert Dust” composite imagery taken by the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI), onboard the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) series of satellites above the equatorial East Atlantic, has been widely used for more than a decade to identify and track the presence of dust storms from and over the Sahara Desert, the Middle East, and southern Africa. Dust is characterised by distinctive pink colours in the Desert Dust false-colour imagery; however, the precise colour is influenced by numerous environmental properties, such as the surface thermal emissivity and skin temperature, the atmospheric water vapour content, the quantity and height of dust in the atmosphere, and the infrared optical properties of the dust itself. For this paper, simulations of SEVIRI infrared measurements and imagery have been performed using a modelling system, which combines dust concentrations simulated by the aerosol transport model COSMO-MUSCAT (COSMO: COnsortium for Small-scale MOdelling; MUSCAT: MUltiScale Chemistry Aerosol Transport Model) with radiative transfer simulations from the RTTOV (Radiative Transfer for TOVS) model. Investigating the sensitivity of the synthetic infrared imagery to the environmental properties over a 6-month summertime period from 2011 to 2013, it is confirmed that water vapour is a major control on the apparent colour of dust, obscuring its presence when the moisture content is high. Of the three SEVIRI channels used in the imagery (8.7, 10.8, and 12.0 µm), the channel at 10.8 µm has the highest atmospheric transmittance and is therefore the most sensitive to the surface skin temperature. A direct consequence of this sensitivity is that the background desert surface exhibits a strong diurnal cycle in colour, with light blue colours possible during the day and purple hues prevalent at night. In dusty scenes, the clearest pink colours arise from high-altitude dust in dry atmospheres. Elevated dust influences the dust colour primarily by reducing the contrast in atmospheric transmittance above the dust layer between the SEVIRI channels at 10.8 and 12.0 µm, thereby boosting red and pink colours in the imagery. Hence, the higher the dust altitude, the higher the threshold column moisture needed for dust to be obscured in the imagery: for a sample of dust simulated to have an aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm of 2–3 at an altitude of 3–4 km, the characteristic colour of the dust may only be impaired when the total column water vapour is particularly moist (⪆39 mm). Meanwhile, dust close to the surface (altitude <1 km) is only likely to be apparent when the atmosphere is particularly dry and when the surface is particularly hot, requiring column moisture ⪅13 mm and skin temperatures ⪆314 K, and is highly unlikely to be apparent when the skin temperature is ⪅300 K. Such low-altitude dust will regularly be almost invisible within the imagery, since it will usually be beneath much of the atmospheric water vapour column. It is clear that the interpretation of satellite-derived dust imagery is greatly aided by knowledge of the background environment.

ALMA Thermal Observations of Europa

Abstract We present four daytime thermal images of Europa taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array. Together, these images comprise the first spatially resolved thermal data set with complete coverage of Europa’s surface. The resulting brightness temperatures correspond to a frequency of 233 GHz (1.3 mm) and a typical linear resolution of roughly 200 km. At this resolution, the images capture spatially localized thermal variations on the scale of geologic and compositional units. We use a global thermal model of Europa to simulate the ALMA observations in order to investigate the thermal structure visible in the data. Comparisons between the data and model images suggest that the large-scale daytime thermal structure on Europa largely results from bolometric albedo variations across the surface. Using bolometric albedos extrapolated from Voyager measurements, a homogenous model reproduces these patterns well, but localized discrepancies exist. These discrepancies can be largely explained by spatial inhomogeneity of the surface thermal properties. Thus, we use the four ALMA images to create maps of the surface thermal inertia and emissivity at our ALMA wavelength. From these maps, we identify a region of either particularly high thermal inertia or low emissivity near 90° west and 23° north, which appears anomalously cold in two of our images.

Defect Detection in Solid-State Battery Electrolytes Using Lock-In Thermal Imaging

Defective regions in battery materials often generate excess or non-uniform heat profiles during operation. Here, we discuss lock-in thermography as a high-sensitivity, spatially-resolved, and non-destructive technique to characterize defects and guide the targeted optimization of new battery materials and cell designs. As an example, we thermally image all-solid-state cells with β-Li3PS4 electrolyte, showing point-like heat signatures that correlate with cell breakdown. Based on the current/voltage cycling characteristics and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, we attribute heating at the breakdown sites primarily to resistive current flow through dendrites. To assist in enabling wider application of lock-in thermography to emerging battery materials, we discuss several parameters necessary to optimize this technique, including the influences of surface thermal emissivity, thermal diffusivity, and lock-in modulation frequency.

The impact of heat blanketing envelopes on neutron stars cooling

The goal of this work is to investigate the effects of chemical composition of heat blanketing envelopes of neutron stars on their thermal states and thermal evolution. To this purpose, we employ newly constructed models of the envelopes composed of binary ion mixtures (H–He, He–C, C–Fe) varying the mass of lighter ions (H, He or C) in the envelope. The results are compared with those calculated using the standard “onion-like” envelope. For illustration, we apply these results to estimate the internal temperature of the Vela pulsar and to study cooling of neutron stars. We show that uncertainties in the chemical composition of the envelopes can lead up to ~ 2.5 times uncertainty of the internal temperature of the star which significantly complicates theoretical reconstruction of the internal structure of cooling neutron stars from observations of their thermal surface emission.

Search for active lava flows with VIRTIS on Venus Express

AbstractThe Visible Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) instrument on Venus Express observed thermal emission from the surface of Venus at 1 μm wavelength and thus would have detected sufficiently bright incandescent lava flows. No eruptions were detected in the observations between April 2006 and October 2008, covering an area equivalent to 7 times the planets surface on separate days. Models of the cooling of lava flows on Earth are adapted to Venus ambient conditions to predict thermal emission based on effusion rate. Taking into account the blurring of surface thermal emission by the atmosphere, the VIRTIS images would detect eruptions with effusion rates above 500 to 1000 m3/s. On Earth such eruptions occur but are rare. Based on an eruption rate and duration distribution fitted to historical data of three terrestrial volcanos, we estimate that only a few percent of all eruptions are detectable. With these assumptions the VIRTIS data can constrain the rate of effusive volcanism on Venus to be less than about 300 km3/yr, at least an order of magnitude higher than existing constraints. There remains a large uncertainty because of unknown properties of lava flows on Venus. Resolving flows in radar imaging and their thickness in altimetry might help to better constrain these properties. While VIRTIS data do not represent a significant constraint on volcanism, an optimized instrument with a 20 times better signal‐to‐noise ratio would likely be able to detect effusion rates on the order of 50 m3/s.

Late-time Cooling of Neutron Star Transients and the Physics of the Inner Crust

Abstract An accretion outburst onto a neutron star transient heats the neutron star’s crust out of thermal equilibrium with the core. After the outburst, the crust thermally relaxes toward equilibrium with the neutron star core, and the surface thermal emission powers the quiescent X-ray light curve. Crust cooling models predict that thermal equilibrium of the crust will be established into quiescence. Recent observations of the cooling neutron star transient MXB 1659-29, however, suggest that the crust did not reach thermal equilibrium with the core on the predicted timescale and continued to cool after into quiescence. Because the quiescent light curve reveals successively deeper layers of the crust, the observed late-time cooling of MXB 1659-29 depends on the thermal transport in the inner crust. In particular, the observed late-time cooling is consistent with a low thermal conductivity layer near the depth predicted for nuclear pasta that maintains a temperature gradient between the neutron star’s inner crust and core for thousands of days into quiescence. As a result, the temperature near the crust–core boundary remains above the critical temperature for neutron superfluidity, and a layer of normal neutrons forms in the inner crust. We find that the late-time cooling of MXB 1659-29 is consistent with heat release from a normal neutron layer near the crust–core boundary with a long thermal time. We also investigate the effect of inner crust physics on the predicted cooling curves of the accreting transient KS 1731-260 and the magnetar SGR 1627-41.

Thermal Imaging Performance of TIR Onboard the Hayabusa2 Spacecraft

The thermal infrared imager (TIR) is a thermal infrared camera onboard the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. TIR will perform thermography of a C-type asteroid, 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3), and estimate its surface physical properties, such as surface thermal emissivity \(\epsilon \), surface roughness, and thermal inertia \(\varGamma \), through remote in-situ observations in 2018 and 2019. In prelaunch tests of TIR, detector calibrations and evaluations, along with imaging demonstrations, were performed. The present paper introduces the experimental results of a prelaunch test conducted using a large-aperture collimator in conjunction with TIR under atmospheric conditions. A blackbody source, controlled at constant temperature, was measured using TIR in order to construct a calibration curve for obtaining temperatures from observed digital data. As a known thermal emissivity target, a sandblasted black almite plate warmed from the back using a flexible heater was measured by TIR in order to evaluate the accuracy of the calibration curve. As an analog target of a C-type asteroid, carbonaceous chondrites (\(50~\mbox{mm} \times 2~\mbox{mm}\) in thickness) were also warmed from the back and measured using TIR in order to clarify the imaging performance of TIR. The calibration curve, which was fitted by a specific model of the Planck function, allowed for conversion to the target temperature within an error of 1 ∘C (\(3\sigma \) standard deviation) for the temperature range of 30 to 100 ∘C. The observed temperature of the black almite plate was consistent with the temperature measured using K-type thermocouples, within the accuracy of temperature conversion using the calibration curve when the temperature variation exhibited a random error of 0.3 ∘C (\(1\sigma \)) for each pixel at a target temperature of 50 ∘C. TIR can resolve the fine surface structure of meteorites, including cracks and pits with the specified field of view of 0.051∘ (\(328 \times 248~\mbox{pixels}\)). There were spatial distributions with a temperature variation of 3 ∘C at the setting temperature of 50 ∘C in the thermal images obtained by TIR. If the spatial distribution of the temperature is caused by the variation of the thermal emissivity, including the effects of the surface roughness, the difference of the thermal emissivity \(\Delta \epsilon \) is estimated to be approximately 0.08, as calculated by the Stefan-Boltzmann raw. Otherwise, if the distribution of temperature is caused by the variation of the thermal inertia, the difference of the thermal inertia \(\Delta \varGamma \) is calculated to be approximately \(150~\mbox{J}\,\mbox{m}^{-2}\,\mbox{s}^{0.5}\,\mbox{K}^{-1}\), based on a simulation using a 20-layer model of the heat balance equation. The imaging performance of TIR based on the results of the meteorite experiments indicates that TIR can resolve the spatial distribution of thermal emissivity and thermal inertia of the asteroid surface within accuracies of \(\Delta \epsilon \cong 0.02\) and \(\Delta \varGamma \cong 20~\mbox{J}\,\mbox{m}^{-2}\,\mbox{s}^{0.5}\,\mbox{K}^{-1}\), respectively. However, the effects of the thermal emissivity and thermal inertia will degenerate in thermal images of TIR. Therefore, TIR will observe the same areas of the asteroid surface numerous times (\({>}10\) times, in order to ensure statistical significance), which allows us to determine both the parameters of the surface thermal emissivity and the thermal inertia by least-squares fitting to a thermal model of Ryugu.