Thermal Imaging and Pitvipers

Introduction

Electromagnetic radiation refers to traveling oscillations in the electric and magnetic fields. The name “electromagnetic radiation” has about nine syllables too many, so in physics it is often simply called “light”. Light can be categorized based on the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum it resides in (e.g. “visible light”) or it can be categorized based on its source (e.g. “laser light”). In this report we will refer to two regions of the spectrum - the “visible” and the “infrared”. The visible region is the portion our eyes can see and consists of wavelengths 400 - 700 nm. The infrared region is everything between the visible and microwave portions of the spectrum, or wavelengths roughly from 700 nm - 1 mm. We will focus on light generated by the thermal motion of particles, which we call “thermal light”.

Although different portions of the electromagnetic spectrum often are treated as completely separate, we will show here that both the visible and infrared are used by animals for vision. Our goal is to understand the components fundamental to imaging in these two wavelength regions and to connect the animals’ vision to today’s technology.

We first briefly introduce the origins of thermal light. Then we will discuss the evolution of vision in animals to both the visible and the infrared, before comparing the two and noting the implications for human camera technology in the two regions of the spectrum.

Appendix

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