Innova 3360: Addendum Emissivity

Purpose:

To provide you with additional material about emissivity while using the Innova 3360 Infrared Camera.

Addendum

• The emissivity indicates the energy radiation characteristics of the material.
• The emissivity of most organic materials and painted or oxidized surfaces is approximately 0.95, which is the default setting of the thermometer.
• All objects radiate infrared energy, the amount of energy radiation is based on the actual surface temperature of the object and the surface emissivity.
• The product perceives the infrared energy at the surface of the object and uses this data to calculate the estimated temperature value.
• Many common objects and materials (such as painted metal, wood, water, skin, fabrics, etc.) can effectively emit energy, so it is easy to obtain relatively accurate measurements, for surfaces that emit energy easily (High emissivity), the emissivity is more than 90% (0.90).
• This simplified approach does not apply to glossy surfaces or painted metals because their emissivity is less than 60% (0.60), these materials are not easy to emit energy and are classified as low emissivity materials, in order to measure materials with lower emissivity more accurately, emissivity corrections are required.
• Adjusting the emissions value usually allows the product to more accurately calculate the actual temperature estimate.
• Notice: It is difficult to determine the actual temperature of the surface with an emissivity below 0.60 accurately and consistently, even if the emissivity and the reflection background are adjusted correctly, the lower the emissivity, the greater the possible error in the product’s calculation of temperature measurement results.