Thermal infrared radiometer calibration and experimental measurements

Thermal infrared radiometers play a vital role in obtaining information in field measurements and also in verifying information from remote sensing satellite sensor data. However, the calibration precision of the thermal infrared radiometers directly affects the accuracy of the remote sensing data analysis and application. It is therefore necessary to ensure that the calibration of thermal infrared radiometers is of sufficient and reliable precision. In this paper, the theory of a six-band thermal infrared radiometer (CE 312-2 ASTER) calibration method was introduced, with the calibration being conducted by using a blackbody source in the laboratory. The sources of error during the calibration procedure were analyzed, and the results of the calibration were provided. Then, laboratory experiments using the radiometer were described. The measurements of the surface temperature of a water sample that was contained in a thermostatic water bath, performed by using the radiometer, were compared to the water sample’s temperature controlled by another device. These experiments were used to evaluate the calibration precision of the CE 312-2 ASTER radiometer, by means of assessing the measurement accuracy of the experiments. The results demonstrated that the calibration coefficients of the CE 312-2 ASTER thermal infrared radiometer displayed a very good performance, with highly accurate measurements, and could be used to detect phenomena related to a thermal infrared target.