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Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research, 2016, 3(2):187-192

ISSN: 2394-2630
Research Article CODEN(USA): JSERBR

Air Infrared Radiometer

Ruben S Asatryan*1, Hamlet S Karayan2, Norayr R Khachatryan3

1
D-r of Eng. Sciences, National Institute of Metrology, Komitas ave. 49/4, 0051, Yerevan, Armenia
2
D-r of Phys. Math. Sciences, Prof., Yervan State University,1 A.Manoogian str.,0025, Yerevan,
Armenia
3
D-r of Eng. Sciences, National Institute of Metrology, Komitas ave. 49/4, 0051, Yerevan, Armenia
Abstract The results of development of the air infrared radiometer for the realization of monitoring of the
environment from an aircraft, and also methods of him some applied applications are presented.
The development results of a new methods of aerial (on a helicopter or airplane) infrared (IR) scanning of
extensive spaces with the purpose of detecting weak heat sources (fire centers at an early stage of their
development) to prevent the occurrence of large-scale fires are presented, and for probing gas main pipelines
and detecting gas leaks also is described. IR scanning of pipelines was performed in the wavelength range 8–12
µm by a helicopter flying along the routes of pipelines.
In the paper there is presented the description of the IR radiometer as well as the measurement method of point
and extended thermal sources in the wavelength range of 2.5 to 5.5 and 8-12 microns.

Keywords Infrared Radiometer, Forest Fire, Natural Gas Pipelines.

Introduction
The environment monitoring, investigation and control of ecological conditions attract a great attention of the
mankind, especially at the present stage of development of industry, energetic and urban building.
Optoelectronic systems and devices designed for application in ecological studies and in arising extremal
situations are always in the center of the scientists’ and engineers’ attention. In particular, research complexes
for early detection of fire hearths arising during natural calamities are irreplaceable.
The main artificial source of atmospheric gaseous pollution is leakage of natural gas, in which the methane
content is 95%. However, the problem is aggravated by the fact that gas main pipelines (GMPs) run through
sparsely inhibited and hard to reach territories, where testing is especially impeded.
It is obvious that the development of a state of the art remote and efficient method for ecological monitoring of
GMPs is especially pressing. In this situation, the only practical method is remote testing from an aircraft (e.g., a
helicopter) flying along the pipeline route at heights of up to 1000 m.
The objective of this study is the description of a universal spectroradiometer (SR) we developed and
demonstration that one possible field of its application is the airborne IR monitoring of GMPs.
Therefore, the development and creation of infrared devices and systems of thermal monitoring of environment,
in particular, large forest spaces is a rather important problem.
The development of modern distant and effective methods of ecological monitoring of large forest spaces is
more than actual. In such a situation the only method is remote monitoring from an aircraft (e.g., from a
helicopter) while flying over large forests at the altitude up to 1000 m.

Brief Technical Description of a Measuring System:

Structurally the measuring complex consists of two basic units: an optico-mechanical unit of the IR radiometer
and an electronic control unit joined to a personal computer. It is designed to measure spectral radiance and
radiation temperature (or its drops) of point and extended sources of infrared radiation under laboratory and

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field conditions [1-4]. To automate data acquisition and processing the spectroradiometer is joined to a personal
computer via a series port RS 232. Optical scheme of the optico-mechanical unit (OMU) is shown in Fig.1.

Figure 1: Optical scheme of OMU

1-Primary mirror of the objective; 2- secondary mirror of the objective; 3- radiation from an object; 4-
removable plane mirror; 5- a sight; 6- a modulator; 7- a reference cavity; 8- a field diaphragm; 9,10- projection
objective; 11- a disk with interferential light filters; 12- a sensing site of the photodetector, 13-corps of
photodetector, 14- a telescope; 15- a deflection mirror.
 Input mirror objective of Cassegrain type;
 A telescope for operative pointing to an object under test, equipped with a sighting grid visible through
an eyepiece on the OMU back panel;
 Parallax free sight for accurate pointing the spectroradiometer to an area to be measured. The sight has
a sighting grid with a cross and a circle which defines visual field boundaries of the device;
 Projection objectives which serve for refocusing the radiation from a field diaphragm to the plane with
light filters and to a sensing site of the photodetector. They represent pairs of spherical mirrors the
application of which enables to avoid achromatic aberrations;
 A disk with interferential light filters which provide a total working spectral range of 2,5 to 14m;
 A photodetector IRA – E410ST1 a preamplifier, and an adjusting

Full working spectral range of the device is covered with the help of two sets of interferential light filters and
photodetector in the subbands of 2.5 to 5.5 m, and 8 to 14 m. Main technical parameters of the device are
given in the Table.
№ Parameter Name Value
1. Input objective diameter 180 mm
2. Focal distance mechanism. 200 mm
3. Distances to be focused from 5m to 
4. Working spectral range from 2,5 to 14  m

II subband (spectral resolution of 3 %) from 2,5 to 5,5  m

III subband (spectral resolution of 8 %)
from 7,9 to 13,5  m
5. Photodetector:
IRA – E410ST1
II subband
III subband
6. Field of vision 3 mrad
7. Noise equivalent difference of the radiation temperatures (at 0,05 K
295o K)

8. Time of preparation to work 15 min

9. Dimensional size of spectroradiometer:
OMU 415x278x254 mm
E ECU 500x420x210 mm

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10. Weight:
OMU not more than 12 kg
ECU not more than 15 kg
11. Climatic conditions of operation:
Ambient temperature from –35o to +45 o
Atmospheric pressure from 84 to 107 kPa (from 630 to
800 mm Hg)
Air relative humidity up to 98% at 35oC
12. Supply voltage (220  22) V
frequency (50  1)Hz

13. Power consumed not more than 200W

During operation the OMU, by means of the wedge guide, is placed on a rotary mechanism which is fastened to
the horizontal platform of a specially prepared tripod
The electronic control unit (ECU) is structurally of on-top variant. All indication and control elements are
mounted on the front panel of the ECU.
Under laboratory conditions the ECU is placed on the table, and under field conditions it can be mounted in a
helicopter with the help of dampers. External appearance of the units is shown in Fg.2.

Figure 2: External appearance of the radiometer A)OMU, Б) ECU

In brief, the operation principle of the spectroradiometer consists in the following: Inside the OMU the radiation
flow from the object under test is collected by means of an optical system (see Figure 1) and focused onto a
sensing site of the photodetector. Further, a preamplifier amplifies an electric signal and transmits it to the ECU.
In the ECU the electronic schemes amplify, demodulate and filter the signal from the photodetector output, and
as a result of this there appears a signal at the output the amplitude of which is a measure of the radiation
temperature of the object. Knowing the value of the collected radiation power ( through the data of peliminarily
conducted energetic calibration of the device), spectral filter features of the system and amplification degree, the
output signal can be exactly transformed into an absolute measurement of radiation temperatures of the objects
under test.
Let’s notice some advantages of the IR radiometer developed by us [5] compared to the existing close analogs.
To widen functional capabilities in the sphere of spectral investigations of thermal objects, besides wideband
interferential light filters for spectrum parts of 0.4 to 1.1,2.5 to 5.5., and 8 to14 m, the device is also provided
with ring readjustable light filters. To eliminate chromatic aberrations the device optical scheme includes two
pairs (see Fig.1) of mirror projection objectives in the focuses of which there are placed light filters and the
receiving site of photodetectors.
The IR radiometer is mounted in the helicopter and, with the help of a deflecting plane mirror, by its field of
vision scans (through the bottom hatch, along the helicopter motion ruoting) terrestril surface of large forests,
see Fig.3.

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Figure 3: Helicopter IR scanning of large forests.

In the presence of fire hearths the radiation temperature in this region (within the wavelength range of 2.5 to 5.5
m) considerably increases that is registered by the electronic control unit.

Figure 4: Helicopter IR scanning of GMPs.

At the helicopter flight altitudes of 200, 500 and 700 m the radiometer covers, with its field of vision, surface
areas of about 120, 750 and 1500 sq.m, correspondingly.
The IR radiometer scans the Earth’s surface along the GMPs routes within its field of view through the bottom
hatch. If there are macroscopic gas leaks in this region, the radiation temperature (in the wavelength region 8–14
μm) drops significantly [6] and is recorded by the ECU.
At helicopter flight altitudes of 200 and 150 m, the radiometer fields of view on the ground encompass surfaces
with radius of ~6 and ~2.5 m, respectively, see fig. 4.
With the helicopter speed of 150-200 km/hr the time of one measurement cycle is 0.1 sec.

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Measurement Technique of IR Flows From Extended and Point Thermal Sources:

Before carrying out quantitative measurements of IR radiation emitted by an unknown source, it is necessary to
fulfill energetic calibration of the spectroradiometer, the aim of which is the measurement of the device response
to the known standard source (usually a black body with known temperature). By definition, the device
calibration means obtaining an electrical signal at the output, which corresponds to a radiation flow unit incident
into the radiometer inlet. The calibration is expressed by some function k() called spectral calibration
characteristic of the device, which includes combined effect of optical elements and electronic amplification of
the whole system. k() is expressed in V/radiation unit, with standard level of amplification degree. An output
signal of the device is proportional to the difference between the IR radiation flows coming to the photodetector
from an external source and from the internal modulated reference black body. In calibrating the radiation from
the calibration black body (with known temperature) entirely fills the device field of vision. An output signal
S() is expressed by the following ratio:
 
S    k    r  , T    , l   r  , T0   r  , TB  1    , l   (1)
where r  , T  is Plunk function at the temperature T and the wavelength  ;
T – temperature of the calibration black body;
  , l  – atmospheric transparency over the path l between the calibration source and device;
T0 – temperature of the internal reference black body;
TB – temperature of the air during the experiment.
In the windows of the atmosphere transparency (e.g. for the wavelength range of 2.5 to 5.5  m), where
the transmission is high,   , l  may be taken as 1, if the calibration is carried out from the distance “ l ” equal
to several meters. Therefore in this approximation for S   we can write:
S    k    r  , T   r  , T0  (2)
with the amplification coefficient equal to 1. And in measuring with the amplification coefficient different from
 
1 the S  value decreases by the same factor. The Plunk function value is calculated according to the ratio:

r  , T  
c1
exp c2 / T   11
5
where
c1  3,74  104 W  m4/cm2
c2  1,438  104  m deg
The objects studied the radiation flow of which completely fills the device field of vision are extent in these
 
measurements. In this case radiance spectral density (W  , T W/cm2  m) of the object is measured. The
ratio (1) may be rewrite as:
 
S    k  W  , T     , l   r  , T0   r , TВ  1    , l    (3)
where W  , T  is the radiance spectral density of the object studied,  is an amplification coefficient of the
whole system , and the rest symbols remain previous. The atmosphere transparency   , l  is either measured
simultaneously, or calculated with the help of data from literature [7,8]. From the ratio (3) we can get for

W ,T : 
S   / k    r  , T0   r  , TB   1    , l 
W  , T   (4)
r  , l 
Usually the radiation of point sources does not fill the visual field of the device. If the area A of a radiating
object is known we can measure its spectral radiance according to the above-stated technique, that is
l2
W p  , T   W  , T     (5)
A
Where  is a solid angle of the spectroradiometer visual field, W(,T) is a total spectral radiance measured
according to (4); is the distance from the object under test to the spectroradiometer. While measuring point
sources spectral contrast of a radiation source is also of interest, when the background radiance is comparable to

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the object radiation. In this case it is necessary to separate the background signal SФ(λ) from the signal
“source+background” S(). For the spectral radiation contrast of the source we can get the ratio:
S      l 2
W    (6)
  k      , l A
Where S   S   SФ  
If A is unknown we may define the contrast of the spectral luminous intensity of the source (in W/strad.m):
S  
I    W    A    l 2 (7)
  k      , l 
Calculation of the radiation temperatures of the objects under test is carried out in accordance with specially
developed algorithms and programs.

Conclusion
Application of the given method of remote ecological monitoring of vast forest spaces and extended gas
pipelines will undoubtedly bring to the considerable technical-economical effectiveness and will also have a
great importance in the problem of preventing the fire occurrences, especially of large-scale ones, and also will
be imported in solving the problem of monitoring atmospheric pollution from natural – gas emissions.

References
[1]. R.S. Asatryan, N.R. Khachatryan, H.S. Karayan, (2015), “On the Method of Distant Infrared
Monitoring of Forest Spaces and Gas Main Pipelines, American Research Journal of Agriculture,
Vol.1 Issue 2, April :Page, 1-6
[2]. R.S Asatryan, (2007), Optoelectronic Methods and Means of Intesting Physico-Ecological Parameters
of Atmosphere and Thermal Objects, News of NAS RA, Techn. Sciences, Vol. LX, No. 2,Page, 307(in
Russian).
[3]. R.S Asatryan , S.R Asatryan , et al.,(2008), Infrared Scanning Complex for Preventing Large-Scale
Fires, Ecological Systems and Devices, No. 1, Page 17 (in Russian).
[4]. R.S. Asatryan et al.(2003), Universal Infrared Spectral Radiometer. Intern. Journal of IR and MM
Waves, vol . 24, No. 6.Page, 1035.
[5]. R.S. Asatryan, H. G. Gevorgyan et al.(2005), The Spectroradiometer, Patent of Ra, No.1678A2, Appl.
No. P20050042, 11.04.2005.(in Armenian).
[6]. Shilin, B.V. and Molodchinin, I.A.,(1992) Kontrol’ sostoyaniya okruzhayushchei sredy teplovoi
aeros”emkoi (Monitoring of Environment by IR Aerial Survey), Moscow: Nedra, Pages 186, (in
Russian).
[7]. P. Kruz , L.Macgloulin ,P. Maccvistan , (1964) Bases of Infrared Technique, M. Voenizdat, USSR
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[8]. A.V. Pavlov , (1974) ,Optoelectronic Devices, M. Energia, 360pages (in Russian).

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