Checking the full range

I thought the images(s) below might be of interest to the group. The situation: an early morning gathering of external images at a building where I was beginning a full scale assessment for water intrusion and frozen pipes. These images were just for general info at this point. Because of the conditions and the need for speed I set my Ti25 to automatic knowing that I would have to adjust the range later in processing. I expected that the low end would be at the imager's minimum temp because I frequently included the sky. I was a little surprised when I opened this image and saw this:

Note the image scale. This is the full range of the imager!
I didn't have time to do much contemplation about the image so I applied the expected range and got the image below which is what I was looking for.

So what was going on? I'm pretty sure I have the answer, do you? The answer is visible in both images.
Just to avoid any red herring the pattern on the roof is from tree branches between me and the building.
Further hint is the time stamp and I am looking roughly southwest.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by dale garren on November 26, 2010 at 3:59pm

all surface temps in first pic were less than 72 deg f

Permalink Reply by George M. Matthews on November 26, 2010 at 4:13pm

Is that heat from a star?

Permalink Reply by Jamie Kaye on November 26, 2010 at 5:32pm

what is going on with that window? reflection of a roof? where was this taken?

crazy patterns on the corners. almost looks like wind carrying the temperature around them.

airplane?

Permalink Reply by Bill Smith on November 29, 2010 at 2:34pm

I guess I should give the answer, George got it right. According to some astronomically knowledgeable friends what we are seeing in the upper right corner is the star Antares which is a pretty good sized ball of gas. If you got to http://www.co-intelligence.org/newsletter/comparisons.html you will find a comparison at the bottom of the page that will make you feel very insignificant if you think about it for awhile.
The imager picked up the sky as being below it's minimum range of -22F and the surface of the star as above the maximum range of 698F. Of course what I was interested in was the range between 15 and 37F so when I rescaled the image looked a bit more normal to our eyes.
Jamie, the structure is steel framed with no appreciable thermal break. The octagon tower which is the left and center portion of the image has so many thermal anomalies that I couldn't begin to enumerate them. The window that shows cold is the only one that has the blinds drawn. It's losing less heat than the others.
Notice the heat loss around the eaves, including the false roof below the top floor of the tower. When you allow unrestricted air flow through a building that is several stories tall you get some interesting patterns.

Permalink Reply by Michael Stuart on December 6, 2010 at 8:03am

Bill,

I don't mean to be a "doubting Thomas" regarding the Antares theory... but the IFOV (Spatial Resolution) of the Ti25 is only 2.50mRad. Seeing the moon is always a possibility...but normal stars are pretty much out of the question due to the extreme distance... (even though the actual emitting objects are very large, as you have pointed out.) Could it have been a jet aircraft on approach or takeoff? I've never really checked (or calculated) detecting the planet Venus with my imagers before... but that would be my next guess beyond the moon or an aircraft
(fixed or rotary-wing). Do you happen to still have the raw IS2 file? I'd love to take a closer look in the software!

Permalink Reply by John Snell on December 6, 2010 at 8:22am

Looks like that small hot dot in the upper right corner could be a reflection of the early morning sun off an airplane?!

Permalink Reply by Jamie Kaye on December 6, 2010 at 8:26am

Blinds in the window!! It is all about the details!

Crazy the amount of heat coming, being lost, from those soffits.

I didn't think it was a star. That would be amazing.
I tend to differ to Michael's opinion here especially with the IFOV only 2.50mRad.

That is what is great about this profession....always something to consider and learn!

Permalink Reply by Jamie Kaye on December 6, 2010 at 11:49am

I meant to say "defer" to Michael's opinion in the above comment.

I thought it was an airplane too, but didn't think that it could be the reflection of the sun.
It is all about the details.

That shows John is always "Thinking Thermally"!

Permalink Reply by Michael Stuart on December 7, 2010 at 11:38am

Better not let the "ghost hunters" or "UFO crowd" get a hold of this image! No telling what it could turn out to be then! ;-)

Permalink Reply by Bill Smith on December 7, 2010 at 1:02pm

Sorry not to get back sooner, I didn't have access to the images or info on the road.
Michael, you certainly know the hardware better than I. I showed the image to a friend who is into astronomy and he consulted some software charts and came up with the Antares theory which seemed plausible to me at the time. I have a call into him but haven't heard back. I just sent you a friend request to get a message to you to send the original file. I should note that I can't see the object in the visible light image.

The image was shot in the White Mountains of NH at a resort hotel, the nearest airport of any note is over 40 miles away in the general direction of the image. I suppose a plane could be passing closer but it would be fairly high at that point.

John, I'd buy that but it isn't in the visible image (see below). Any chance it's the entire star cluster? Said the guy who knows next to nothing of astronomy.

Jamie, trust me, this building had "details". There were thermal bypasses in this building that were bigger than some apartment I have lived in. That is not an exaggeration.

So I guess it's still a mystery, just keep me away from the "spectral imaging" folks.

Permalink Reply by Bill Smith on December 7, 2010 at 1:26pm

Michael, an additional though. Maybe you guys make a better product than you think!

Permalink Reply by Michael Stuart on December 7, 2010 at 11:55pm

Bill,

I appreciate the thought... and we honestly try to give our customers a little more than they thought they paid for... but you just can't break the fundamental laws of physics! (or the "spectral imaging" folks may come to take you away!)

I love a good thermal mystery!

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