Airborne / Thermal Infra Red

Owned by Maiwenn Herpe
Last updated: Jun 21, 2021 by Frederika Mourot
2 min read

Examples of potential applications

  • River/lake temperature mapping.

  • Geothermal zones characterisation/mapping and hazard identification.

  • Groundwater and surface water exchanges.

  • Thermal plume identification.

  • Identifying heat sources/sinks (e.g. in urban areas).

Range of flight height and captured zone width (m)

Flight altitude: c. 1000 m.

Spectral Range (nm)

Typically 7.5–14 µm.

Spatial Resolution (m)

Depends on flight altitude and camera but typically < 1m.

Benefits

  • Often high spatial resolution.

  • Can adjust the time of imagery capture to the needs.

  • Ability to capture data in remote, unsafe or difficult to access locations, lowering safety risks.

  • Offers a wavelength range that is visible to the eye.

Limitations

  • Limited by visibility constraints and poor weather conditions.

  • Generally needs to be collected at night to avoid solar effects.

  • Temperature drift issues.

  • TIR imagery interpretation can be complex and requires expertise.

  • Generally need recent aerial photography to assist with interpreting and processing the data.

Selection of references

Culbertson CW, Huntington TG, Caldwell JM, O’Donnell C. 2014. Evaluation of aerial thermal infrared remote sensing to identify groundwater–discharge zones in the Meduxnekeag River, Houlton, Maine.: US Geological Survey. 21 p.

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20131168


Liu C, Liu J, Hu Y, Wang H, Zheng C. 2016. Airborne Thermal Remote Sensing for Estimation of Groundwater Discharge to a River. Groundwater. 54(3):363-373. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.12362.

https://ngwa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gwat.12362


Lovett, A., Cameron, S., Reeves, R., Meijer, E., Verhagen, F., van der Raaij, R., Westerhoff, R., Moridnejad, M., and Morgenstern, U.: Characterisation of groundwater-surface water interaction at three case study sites within the Upper Waikato River Catchment using temperature sensing and hydrochemistry techniques, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited (GNS), GNS Science Report 2014/64, available at:

http://shop.gns.cri.nz/sr_2014-064-pdf/ (last access: 30 April 2019), 2015


Eschbach D, Piasny G, Schmitt L, Pfister L, Grussenmeyer P, Koehl M, Skupinski G, Serradj A. 2017. Thermal-infrared remote sensing of surface-water/groundwater exchanges in a restored anastomosing channel (Upper Rhine River, France). Hydrological Processes. 31:1113-1124. doi:10.1002/hyp.11100.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hyp.11100