Conquering the Veil of Darkness

A more-sensitive generation of infrared imaging cameras improves image contrast for better feature definition and sharper pictures.

Patrolling the streets, fighting fires and protecting corporate facilities are now a little safer and easier thanks to L3 Communications Commercial Infrared's newest mobile infrared imaging camera - the NightSight ProtectIR 4000B.

Seeing Beyond the Smoke and Flames

Unseen embers can escape detection and threaten new outbreaks. Hot spots can linger unobserved for days and then burst into flame again. Escape routes can be obscured all too quickly by flames, smoke and foliage. Firefighters have learned to rely on their senses, but that’s not always enough. They need help seeing what their eyes can’t see.

  How do you use your thermal imaging camera?

It was in 1998 that Chesterfield County began to experience numerous prowler complaints. Several homes had been broken into and a man, often wearing a blue bandanna over his face, had been seen fleeing several of the homes. The man had also sexually assaulted a five-year-old girl after she awoke to find him in her bed. The suspect came to be known as the “Bandanna Bandit.”

When Seconds Count

L3 Communications thermal imaging technology speeds airport rescue vehicles through darkness, bad weather, fog or smoke.  Aircraft have a variety of systems to help them navigate through bad weather conditions or darkness. Until recently, rescue vehicles on the ground were not as fortunate. Response time is crucial during emergencies, especially fires.

 When Seconds Count and Lives are on the Line

 Thermal imaging can make all the difference. New funding sources can help make it happen.  To get an idea of what it means for firefighters to be surrounded by smoke, think of the last time your power went out in the middle of the night. Suddenly you’re blind. You’re disoriented and bump into things. Your own home is a maze of hidden obstacles.

 Shedding Light on Night Vision

Using infrared imaging technology can help law enforcement professionals stop crime before it happens. A thermal imager measures very small temperature differences that can’t be seen by the naked eye, allowing you to see in no- or low-light situations.

  Thermal imaging gives K-9 unit an extra “eye”

The K-9 Unit of the Odessa Police Department, Odessa, Texas, includes four dogs and an extra “eye” — a L3 Communications PalmIR 250 thermal imaging camera. It has proven so useful that a second camera was on order as this issue of Eye on Infrared went to press.

  Infrared Facts vs. Fiction

Thermal imaging cameras, also called infrared cameras, detect the heat given off by an object or person. Thermal imaging cameras have lenses, just like visible light cameras. But in this case the lens focuses waves from the infrared energy present in all objects onto an infrared sensor array.

  When Failure Is Not An Option

Infrared thermal imaging is proving to be a cost-effective tool for aviation maintenance.  When you’re cruising at 30,000 feet and there’s a malfunction, you can’t just pull over to the side of the road and wait for help. The early, seat-of-the-pants barnstorming pilots could live with the occasional mechanical problem.