Williams T. Thermal imaging cameras: characteristics and performance

CRC Press, 2009, 233 p., ISBN: 978-1-4200-7185-6. The main impetus for the development of thermal imaging cameras has been a military one. However, as their performance has increased and their cost decreased, thermal imaging cameras have found applications in a wide range of industrial and civil applications, even to the extent of being used for TV wildlife programs. The aim of this book is not only to provide an introduction to the topic for those who wish to have a better understanding of thermal imaging, or for those who wish to discover how it could be applied in their area of work, but also to provide wider and more comprehensive knowledge of the topic for those who use, make, test, design, and sell such imagers. The intention throughout this book is to employ a more practical approach born of experience using and testing thermal imagers, and to keep theory to a minimum. The book deals with only the standard form of camera and not with the specialized forms of thermal imager, such as the push-broom systems used for surveying the Earth from satellites, although much of the information in the book should prove useful to those involved with such systems. The reader will also find information that will be valuable in a general sense to anyone engaged in work on thermal wavelengths.