Absolute Radiation Thermometry in the NIR

A near infrared (NIR) radiation thermometer (RT) for temperature measurements in the range from 773 K up to 1235 K was characterized and calibrated in terms of the “Mise en Pratique for the definition of the Kelvin” (MeP-K) by measuring its absolute spectral radiance responsivity. Using Planck’s law of thermal radiation allows the direct measurement of the thermodynamic temperature independently of any ITS-90 fixed-point. To determine the absolute spectral radiance responsivity of the radiation thermometer in the NIR spectral region, an existing PTB monochromator-based calibration setup was upgraded with a supercontinuum laser system (0.45 \(\upmu \hbox {m}\) to 2.4 \(\upmu \hbox {m}\)) resulting in a significantly improved signal-to-noise ratio. The RT was characterized with respect to its nonlinearity, size-of-source effect, distance effect, and the consistency of its individual temperature measuring ranges. To further improve the calibration setup, a new tool for the aperture alignment and distance measurement was developed. Furthermore, the diffraction correction as well as the impedance correction of the current-to-voltage converter is considered. The calibration scheme and the corresponding uncertainty budget of the absolute spectral responsivity are presented. A relative standard uncertainty of 0.1 % \((k=1)\) for the absolute spectral radiance responsivity was achieved. The absolute radiometric calibration was validated at four temperature values with respect to the ITS-90 via a variable temperature heatpipe blackbody (773 K ...1235 K) and at a gold fixed-point blackbody radiator (1337.33 K).     

Construction and Characterization of a Large Aperture Blackbody for Infrared Radiometer Calibration

A large aperture blackbody (LABB) with a diameter of 1 m has been successfully constructed for calibrating radiation thermometers and infrared radiometers with a wide field of view in the temperature range between 10 °C and 90 °C. The blackbody is a 1 m long cylindro-conical cavity with a diameter of 1.1 m. Its conical bottom has an apex angle of 120°. To achieve good temperature stability and uniformity, the cavity is integrated to a water-bath to which the pressurized water is supplied from a reservoir. To reduce the convection heat loss from the cavity to the ambient, the cavity is purged of the dried air that passes through a coiled tube immersed in the reservoir. For an uncertainty evaluation of the LABB, its temperature stability was measured by using a reference radiation thermometer (RRT) and a platinum resistance thermometer (PRT), and its radiance temperature distributions on the aperture plane were measured by using a thermal camera. Measuring the spectral emissivity of the coating material, the effective emissivity of the blackbody was calculated to be 0.9955 from 1 ??m to 15 ??m. The expanded uncertainty of the radiance temperature scale was evaluated based on the PRT readings, which vary from 0.3 °C to 0.5 °C (k = 2) in the temperature range. The temperature scale is validated by comparing with the RRT of which the temperature scale is realized by a multiple fixed-point calibration.     

Apparatus for Measuring Spectral Emissivity of Solid Materials at Elevated Temperatures

Spectral emissivity measurements at high temperature are of great importance for both scientific research and industrial applications. A method to perform spectral emissivity measurements is presented based on two sample heating methods, the flat plate and tubular furnace. An apparatus is developed to measure the normal spectral emissivity of solid material at elevated temperatures from 1073 K to 1873 K and wavelengths from \(2\,\upmu \hbox {m}\) to \(25\,\upmu \hbox {m}\). Sample heating is accomplished by a torch flame or a high temperature furnace. Two different variable temperature blackbody sources are used as standard references and the radiance is measured by a FTIR spectrometer. Following calibration of the spectral response and background radiance of the spectrometer, the effect of the blackbody temperature interval on calibration results is discussed. Measurements are performed of the normal spectral emissivity of SiC and graphite over the prescribed temperature and wavelength range. The emissivity of SiC at high temperatures is compared with the emissivity at room temperature, and the influence of an oxide layer formed at the surface of SiC on the emissivity is studied. The effect of temperature on the emissivity of graphite is also investigated. Furthermore, a thorough analysis of the uncertainty components of the emissivity measurement is performed.     

Preflight Spectral Radiance Infrared Calibration Facility

Preflight calibration of space-based observation systems (SOBS) is carried out by means of standard sources with known spectral radiance. There are no difficulties in preflight calibration of SOBS within the visible spectral range. The main problem here lies in achieving sufficiently high uniformity of spectral radiance across the radiating aperture of a large-area source. Standard blackbody radiance sources with the temperature that is measured and with the calculated emissivity are used for calibration of SOBS in the infrared (IR) spectral range. The emissivity of sources having an aperture as large as 500 mm cannot be calculated accurately enough, and they have to be measured. It is quite challenging to conduct the measurements in a vacuum chamber simulating the low earth orbit environment in a broad temperature range. A spectral radiance calibration facility for preflight calibration of SOBS which is based on using a large-area blackbody with a diameter of 500 mm and an operational temperature range from \(-60~^{\circ }\mathrm{C}\) to \(150~^{\circ }\mathrm{C}\) is presented. The facility includes a gallium fixed-point blackbody, a variable temperature blackbody with a temperature range from \(-60\,^{\circ }\mathrm{C}\) to \(150\,^{\circ }\mathrm{C}\) , a reference liquid nitrogen-cooled blackbody located in the vacuum chamber, and a Fourier transform IR spectrometer (FT-IR) used as a comparator. Radiation from the different sources is fed, in sequence, into the comparator by means of a custom-made optomechanical system located in the vacuum chamber. Operation of the calibration facility is described. Characteristics and specifications of the sources are shown.     

Research on H500-Type High-Precision Vacuum Blackbody as a Calibration Standard for Infrared Remote Sensing

Based on the calibration requirements of vacuum low background aerospace infrared remote sensing radiance temperature, a high-precision vacuum blackbody (H500 type) is developed for the temperature range from ??93 °C to +?220 °C at the National Institute of Metrology, China. In this paper, the structure and the temperature control system of H500 are introduced, and its performance, such as heating rate and stabilization of temperature control, is tested under the vacuum and low-background condition (liquid-nitrogen-cooled shroud). At room temperature and atmospheric environment, the major technical parameters of this blackbody, such as emissivity and uniformity, are measured. The measurement principle of blackbody emissivity is based on the control of surrounding radiation. Temperature uniformity at the cavity bottom is measured using a standard infrared radiation thermometer. When the heating rate is 1 °C min^?1, the time required for the temperature to stabilize is less than 50 min, and within 10 min, the variation in temperature is less than 0.01 °C. The emissivity value of the blackbody is higher than 0.996. Temperature uniformity at the bottom of the blackbody cavity is less than 0.03 °C. The uncertainty is less than 0.1 °C (k?=?2) over the temperature range from ??93 °C to +?67 °C.     

真空镓固定点黑体辐射源研制

为满足红外遥感载荷实验室辐射定标需求,实现红外遥感辐射量值溯源到ITS-90国际温标,研制了真空镓固定点黑体辐射源.黑体腔开口直径为25 mm,深度220 mm,内部喷涂高发射率涂层,通过仿真计算黑体腔的发射率优于0.9999.在真空下测试了镓固定点相变坪台的复现性为4.4 mK,坪台稳定性优于2 mK.测量了镓固定点...     

Vacuum Radiance-Temperature Standard Facility for Infrared Remote Sensing at NIM

As infrared remote sensors are very important parts of Earth observation satellites, they must be calibrated based on the radiance temperature of a blackbody in a vacuum chamber prior to launch. The uncertainty of such temperature is thus an essential component of the sensors’ uncertainty. This paper describes the vacuum radiance-temperature standard facility (VRTSF) at the National Institute of Metrology of China, which will serve to calibrate infrared remote sensors on Chinese meteorological satellites. The VRTSF can be used to calibrate vacuum blackbody radiance temperature, including those used to calibrate infrared remote sensors. The components of the VRTSF are described in this paper, including the VMTBB, the LNBB, the FTIR spectrometer, the reduced-background optical system, the vacuum chamber used to calibrate customers’ blackbody, the vacuum-pumping system and the liquid-nitrogen-support system. The experimental methods and results are expounded. The uncertainty of the radiance temperature of VMTBB is 0.026 °C at 30 °C over 10 μm.     

大口径高发射率面型黑体辐射源的研制

黑体辐射源作为定标标准器,在红外测量设备的辐射定标中具有重要作用。为应对大口径红外测量设备的辐射定标工作需求,设计了1台辐射面积为400mm×400mm的面型黑体辐射源。采用多路控温和连接固定冷源的方式对黑体进行温度控制;通过热仿真确定合适的传热模型,同时结合高发射率涂层工艺与辐射面的结构设计使黑体具备高发射率,辐射面有效发射率可达到0.992;在真空环境下,利用标准铂电阻温度计测量得到黑体辐射面源的温度均匀性偏差最大为0.101K,稳定性平均值为0.018K/10min,该黑体辐射光源能够满足现阶段大口径红外测量设备的使用需求。     

Thermodynamic Temperature Measurement to the Indium Point Based on Radiance Comparison

A multi-national project (the EMRP InK project) was completed recently, which successfully determined the thermodynamic temperatures of several of the high-temperature fixed points above the copper point. The National Metrology Institute of Japan contributed to this project with its newly established absolute spectral radiance calibration capability. In the current study, we have extended the range of thermodynamic temperature measurement to below the copper point and measured the thermodynamic temperatures of the indium point (\(T_{90} =\) 429.748 5 \(\hbox {K}\)), tin point (505.078 K), zinc point (692.677 K), aluminum point (933.473 K) and the silver point (1 234.93 K) by radiance comparison against the copper point, with a set of radiation thermometers having center wavelengths ranging from \(0.65\,\upmu \hbox {m}\) to \(1.6\,\upmu \hbox {m}\). The copper-point temperature was measured by the absolute radiation thermometer which was calibrated by radiance method traceable to the electrical substitution cryogenic radiometer. The radiance of the fixed-point blackbodies was measured by standard radiation thermometers whose spectral responsivity and nonlinearity are precisely evaluated, and then the thermodynamic temperatures were determined from radiance ratios to the copper point. The values of \(T-T_{90}\) for the silver-, aluminum-, zinc-, tin- and indium-point cells were determined as ?4 mK (\(U = 104\,\hbox {mK}, k=2\)), ?99 mK (88 mK), ?76 mK (76 mK), ?68 mK (163 mK) and ?42 mK (279 mK), respectively.     

Low-Temperature Blackbodies for Temperature Range from ?60?��C to 90?��C

Low-temperature cavity-type blackbodies (BB), VTBB and BB100K1, are developed at VNIIOFI for operation as IR radiation sources of the Middle Background Calibration Facility in the temperature range from ?60 °C to 90 °C, which is being constructed by KRISS for calibration of multi-spectral cameras for space applications. The VTBB model, featured by a 30 mm output aperture and hermetic housing and flange for mounting to a vacuum chamber, covers the complete temperature range under a vacuum environment (up to 10^?2 Pa), and the temperature range from 20 °C to 90 °C under open air conditions. BB100K1 has a wide aperture of 100 mm diameter, which shows stable operation in the temperature range from ?60 °C to 90 °C inside a vacuum chamber, and in the temperature range from ?40 °C to 90 °C in a dry-air or inert-gas environment with the usage of an extra hood with an aperture. The effective emissivity of the radiating cavities of both BB, covered with Lord Aeroglaze Z306 black paint, was calculated with the usage of STEEP3 Monte-Carlo simulation software, taking the measured temperature gradients into account. The numerical calculations yield an emissivity of at least 0.9997 for the VTBB cavity, and 0.997 for the BB100K1 cavity. The radiating cavity temperature of VTBB and BB100K1 is stabilized at the level of ±0.01 °C by means of an external precise closed-loop liquid thermostat (Huber Unistat 705 model). The temperature distribution along the radiating cavities and across the BB bottoms is monitored by five precision PRT thermometers and a digital multimeter equipped with a scanner card. Experimental tests using a thermal camera at KRISS demonstrated high-temperature uniformity of both radiation sources not exceeding ±50 mK over the entire temperature range, in vacuum as in a dry-air environment. The combined standard uncertainty of VTBB and BB100K1 temperature measurements accounts for about 40 mK within the range of their working temperatures.     

Variable Temperature Blackbodies via Variable Conductance: Thermal Design,Modelling and Testing

This paper presents the overall design for large (\(\sim \)400 mm aperture) reference blackbody cavities currently under development at the Science and Technology Facilities Council Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Space Department (STFC RAL Space), in collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). These blackbodies are designed to operate in vacuum over a temperature range from 160 K to 370 K, with an additional capability to operate at \(\sim \)100 K as a point of near-zero radiance. This is a challenging problem for a single blackbody. The novel thermal design presented in this paper enables one target that can physically achieve and operate successfully at both thermal extremes, whilst also meeting stringent temperature gradient requirements. The overall blackbody design is based upon a helium gas-gap heat switch and modified to allow for variable thermal conductance. The blackbody design consists of three main concentric cylinder components—an inner cavity (aluminium alloy), a radiation shield (aluminium) and an outer liquid nitrogen (\(\hbox {LN}_{2}\)) jacket (stainless steel). The internal surface of the cavity is the effective radiating surface. There is a helium gas interspace surrounding the radiation shield and enclosed by the \(\hbox {LN}_{2}\) jacket and the inner cavity. The blackbodies are now at a mature stage of development. In this paper, the overall design, focusing upon the thermal design solution, is detailed. This paper will also concern the full-scale prototype breadboard model, for which results on thermal stability, spatial gradients and other sensitivities will be presented.     

100～400K真空红外亮温标准黑体辐射源研制

介绍了中国计量科学研究院研制的100~400K真空红外亮温标准黑体辐射源的工作原理、结构、性能测试方法及测试结果。黑体辐射源通过液氮制冷与3温区控制实现了100~400K范围内的温度控制。在真空环境下,测试了其在温度范围100~400K轴向温度均匀性、底部温度稳定性等技术指标,结果表明均匀性优于0.120K,控温稳定性优于0.020K/20min;在室温大气环境下,利用基于控制环境辐射的发射率测量方法测量了黑体空腔发射率,空腔法向发射率为0.9998。采用基于蒙特卡罗黑体发射率仿真计算方法分析轴向温度均匀性对空腔发射率的影响,分析了标准黑体辐射源的不确定度来源,在8~16 μm波长亮度温度的合成标准不确定度优于0.030K。     

Design and Evaluation of Large-Aperture Gallium Fixed-Point Blackbody

To complement existing water bath blackbodies that now serve as NIST primary standard sources in the temperature range from 15 °C to 75 °C, a gallium fixed-point blackbody has been recently built. The main objectives of the project included creating an extended-area radiation source with a target emissivity of 0.9999 capable of operating either inside a cryo-vacuum chamber or in a standard laboratory environment. A minimum aperture diameter of 45 mm is necessary for the calibration of radiometers with a collimated input geometry or large spot size. This article describes the design and performance evaluation of the gallium fixed-point blackbody, including the calculation and measurements of directional effective emissivity, estimates of uncertainty due to the temperature drop across the interface between the pure metal and radiating surfaces, as well as the radiometrically obtained spatial uniformity of the radiance temperature and the melting plateau stability. Another important test is the measurement of the cavity reflectance, which was achieved by using total integrated scatter measurements at a laser wavelength of 10.6 μm. The result allows one to predict the performance under the low-background conditions of a cryo-chamber. Finally, results of the spectral radiance comparison with the NIST water-bath blackbody are provided. The experimental results are in good agreement with predicted values and demonstrate the potential of our approach. It is anticipated that, after completion of the characterization, a similar source operating at the water triple point will be constructed. Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or material are identified in this paper to specify the experimental procedures and result adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that material or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.     

Experiences in Calibrating Industrial Platinum Resistance Sensors Between − 196 °C and 80 °C

Recently, a requirement arose to provide sensors for measuring the temperature of a substantial reference blackbody cavity to operate in vacuum over a temperature range from ? 100 °C to 80 °C (~?170 K to ~?350 K), with an additional capability to operate at ~? 170 °C (~?100 K) as a point of near-zero radiance. Several 100 Ω industrial platinum resistance sensors (Pt100) are required for control purposes in order to establish the temperature uniformity of the blackbody structure and its surrounding aluminum-alloy isothermal shield. These sensors should remain stable within the uncertainties of 0.03 °C (k?=?3) ideally for 20 years. This paper discusses the testing and calibration of two types of industrial Pt100 resistors, including checking the interchangeability of sensors from a given batch, and the methods of interpolation over the temperature range. It is concluded that the sensors can meet the requirements provided that they have been individually tested, and that there is a degree of duplication of sensors so that long-term changes can be detected. The calibration data could be fitted by cubic or quartic equations expressing temperature as a function of resistance (or resistance ratio), this being simpler than the ITS-90 formulation and more convenient than using the (technically obsolete) Callendar–Van Dusen equation.     

Comparison of a Detector-Based Near-IR Radiance Scale to an ITS-90 Calibrated Radiation Thermometer

Integrating-sphere-input InGaAs radiometers (ISIR) have been developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to extend the detector-based calibration of radiation thermometers from the Si range to the near-infrared (NIR). These near-infrared radiometers are used to determine the reference spectral irradiance responsivity scale based on the primary-standard cryogenic radiometer. The irradiance responsivity scale is then propagated to spectral radiance at the exit port of an integrating sphere. The near-infrared radiation thermometer (NIRT) is calibrated using this detector-based radiance scale. The first phase of this research work is reported here where the relative spectral radiance responsivity of the NIRT has been determined using a monochromator-based system. Thereafter, the relative spectral responsivity of the NIRT is converted into an absolute responsivity using the radiances from the Zn fixed point blackbody. Then, the NIRT is used to extend these calibrations for temperature measurements between 157 °C and 1000 °C. The NIRT has also been calibrated in this temperature range using the five, fixed point blackbodies of the ITS-90. The two different calibration approaches for temperature measurements are compared.     

A Vacuum Infrared Standard Radiation Thermometer at the PTB

A thermal infrared radiation thermometer was jointly developed by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt and Raytek GmbH for temperature measurements from − 150°C to 170°C under vacuum. The radiation thermometer is a purpose-built instrument to be operated with the PTB reduced-background infrared calibration facility. The instrument is a stand-alone system with an airtight housing that allows operation inside a vacuum chamber, attached to a vacuum chamber, and in air. The radiation thermometer will serve to calibrate thermal radiation sources, i.e., blackbody radiators, by comparing their radiance temperature to that of a variable-temperature reference blackbody inside the reduced-background calibration facility. Furthermore, since it can be operated under vacuum and in air, the instrument also allows the water- and ammonia-heat-pipe reference blackbodies of the PTB low-temperature calibration facility operated in air to be compared with the variable-temperature blackbody operated under vacuum. Finally, provided that sufficient long-term stability is achieved, the instrument shall be used as a transfer radiation thermometer to carry and compare the temperature scale of PTB by means of radiation thermometry to remote-sensing calibration facilities outside PTB. The mechanical, optical, and electrical designs of the instrument are reported. Results of investigations on the temperature resolution, size-of-source effect, and the reference function are given. The heat-pipe blackbodies operating in air are compared to the variable-temperature blackbody operated under vacuum by using the vacuum radiation thermometer. References to commercial products are provided for identification purposes only and constitute neither endorsement nor representation that the item identified is the best available for the stated purpose.     

Radiation Thermometry and Emissivity Measurements Under Vacuum at the PTB

A new experimental facility was realized at the PTB for reduced-background radiation thermometry under vacuum. This facility serves three purposes: (i) providing traceable calibration of space-based infrared remote-sensing experiments in terms of radiation temperature from  −173 °C to 430 °C and spectral radiance; (ii) meeting the demand of industry to perform radiation thermometric measurements under vacuum conditions; and (iii) performing spectral emissivity measurements in the range from 0 °C to 430 °C without atmospheric interferences. The general concept of the reduced background calibration facility is to connect a source chamber with a detector chamber via a liquid nitrogen-cooled beamline. Translation and alignment units in the source and detector chambers enable the facility to compare and calibrate different sources and detectors under vacuum. In addition to the source chamber, a liquid nitrogen-cooled reference blackbody and an indium fixed-point blackbody radiator are connected to the cooled beamline on the radiation side. The radiation from the various sources is measured with a vacuum infrared standard radiation thermometer (VIRST) and is also imaged on a vacuum Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) to allow for spectrally resolved measurements of blackbodies and emissivity samples. Determination of the directional spectral emissivity will be performed in the temperature range from 0 °C to 430 °C for angles from 0° to ±70° with respect to normal incidence in the wavelength range from 1 μm to 1,000 μm. References to commercial products are provided for identification purposes only and constitute neither endorsement nor representation that the item identified is the best available for the stated purpose.     

中温区真空标准黑体辐射源研制

介绍了中国计量科学研究院研制的中温区真空标准黑体辐射源的结构设计,工作原理,测试结果和不确定度评定.黑体辐射源工作温度范围为320～500 K,黑体空腔开口直径为50 mm,空腔深度为260 mm,表面喷涂了耐高温漆,空腔发射率优于0.999.真空环境下测试了黑体在335～500K温度范围内的轴向温度均匀性,温度稳定性...     

The Influence of Impurities on the Zinc Fixed Point

Impurities are considered to be the most significant source of uncertainty for the realization of the International Temperature Scale of 1990 by means of metal fixed points. The determination and further reduction in this uncertainty require a traceable chemical analysis of dissolved impurities in the fixed-point metal and accurate knowledge of the specific temperature change caused by impurities (slope of the liquidus line). We determined the slope of the liquidus line for three binary systems and present results and conclusions from the chemical analysis of zinc with a nominal purity of 7N. For the Fe–Zn system, we determined a liquidus slope of (\(-0.91\pm 0.14\)) mK / (\(\upmu \hbox {g}{\cdot }\hbox { g}^{-1}\)) from the evaluation of freezing plateaus and (\(-0.76~\pm 0.20\)) mK / (\(\upmu \hbox {g}{\cdot }\hbox { g}^{-1}\)) from the evaluation of melting plateaus; for the Pb–Zn system, the corresponding results are (\(-0.27~\pm 0.05\)) mK / (\(\upmu \hbox {g}{\cdot }\hbox { g}^{-1}\)) and (\(-0.26~\pm 0.05\)) mK / (\(\upmu \hbox {g}{\cdot }\hbox { g}^{-1}\)). Although for the Sb–Zn system, we determined a liquidus slope of about \(-0.8\) mK / (\(\upmu \hbox {g}{\cdot }\hbox { g}^{-1}\)), our investigations showed that a correction of the influence of antimony is highly questionable because antimony can be found in zinc in a fully dissolved state or precipitated as an insoluble compound. Iron is the only impurity where a correction of the fixed-point temperature was possible. For the realization of the zinc fixed point at PTB, this correction is between 2 \(\upmu \)K and 16 \(\upmu \)K depending on the batch of zinc used. The influence of the sum of all impurities was estimated by means of the OME method. The resulting uncertainty contribution is between 12 \({\upmu }\hbox {K}\) and 48 \({\upmu }\hbox {K}\).