Night Sky Radiant Cooling –

Influence on Outdoor Thermal Imaging Analysis

K.-P. Möllmann, F. Pinno, M. Vollmer,
Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany

ABSTRACT
During nights with a clear sky a strong surface cooling of objects oriented towards the sky is observed. The
large radiation net flux of about 40 – 75 W/m2 in clear-sky nights can be much larger than the convective heat
flux, leading to measurable consequences in the thermal signature of buildings. The surface temperature of
objects directed to the sky with a large angle of view is often decreased below the temperature of the
surrounding air. This radiant cooling can cause a significant change of the thermal signature of object
surfaces depending on the effective background temperature of the night sky, the radiation distribution within
the field of view (influencing the net radiation flux) and the tilt angle of the object. Neglecting this effect in the
interpretation of outdoor thermal images can lead to misinterpretations and errors. The paper will discuss a
number of practical examples as well as some theoretical analysis of the heat exchange including the night
sky radiant cooling. The influence of the air humidity, clouds and air temperature will be discussed.

INTRODUCTION
Measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation showed that the universe can be described by
a thermal blackbody distribution with a temperature of T = 2.7 K, see [1]. Without any influence of the
atmosphere the radiant energy loss of the earth (treated as black body) with a temperature of 20o C or 0o C
would be 418.8 W/m2 or 315.7 W/m2 respectively, according to the Stefan – Boltzmann law. Due to the green
house effect and clouds in the atmosphere of the earth this radiation flux is strongly decreased. During clear
sky nights in areas with low humidity, e.g., in deserts a radiation flux of up to 75 W/m2 can be measured. The
potential of residential cooling systems [2] and cooling for daytime preservation of fresh produce [3] based on
this have been investigated intensively. In detail, the radiation flux strongly depends on the atmospheric
moisture and the cloud cover. In humid climates the clear night flux can drop to 60 W/m2. A 50 % cloud cover
in humid climates leads to a drop to 40 W/m2 and for completely overcast skies only ≈ 7 W/m2 are observed
[1].

The influence of a large cooling rate during a clear sky night is shown in Figure 1. Some letters with an
aluminum foil on top were placed on the roof of a garden swing before sunset, see left image in Figure 1.
About four hours after sunset the thermal images of the roof with the letters depict the cooling effect. The
aluminum covered letters seem to be very cool due to the reflected clear sky (image in the center of Figure 1).

Figure 1. Visible image of the letters on the roof of the garden swing (left), infrared image of the aluminum covered
letters in the clear sky night (center), infrared image of the garden swing roof immediate after removing the letters (right)

The high reflectance of the aluminum surface of the letters causes a low emissivity of about ε = 0.05 and
therefore a lower radiant energy loss. This is demonstrated by taking an infrared image of the garden swing
roof after removing the letters, see right image in Figure 1. The reduced radiant losses cause a thermal
signature of the roof surface corresponding to the previous lettering. The swing roof is indeed still warmer at
those areas which were previously covered by the foil due to the low thermal conductivity of the roof material.

InfraMation 2008 Proceedings ITC 126 A 2008-05-14

There is another thermal feature in this first example. The metal rod below the awning of the garden swing
roof can be clearly seen in the infrared image. Four hours after sunset the temperature of the rod is still
higher than the temperature of the thin awning. This is due to the higher thermal capacitance of the rod which
causes a slower cooling. The cooling time constant τthermal [4] of the steel rod can easily amount several
hours. This simple experiment shows that night sky cooling can induce non-stationary surface temperature
distributions.

In addition Figure 1 proves the dependence of the night sky radiation cooling on the roof tilt angle. Assuming
clear skies it is reasonable to classify the orientation of objects via the zenith angle θz of their surface normal.
In the example of Figure 1, topmost area 1 of the swing has θz = 10o, area 2 has θz = 45o and area 3 has
θz = 90o, obviously. The radiation cooling effect decreases with increasing slope angle. As a result, objects
with small θz cool more effectively as can be seen in Figure 1 (right).

The results of this simple experiment give a strong motivation for a more detailed discussion of the night sky
cooling and its influence on the results of outdoor infrared imaging.

NIGHT SKY RADIANT COOLING

The net radiation exchange between two surfaces A1 and A2 with the radiance L12 and L21, respectively joined
by a general ray length r12 is given by

(L12 − L21)
Δφ = φ2→1 − φ1→ 2 = ∫ ∫ cos θ1 dA1 cos θ 2 dA2 (1)
r 2
12
where the integral must cover both areas A1 and A2 of the object surfaces, see [5-7] and Figure 2.

θ1 A2
θ2

r12
A1

Figure 2. Geometric radiation transfer between two surfaces

The calculation of the net radiation exchange exhibits a complex problem if the radiances L12 and L21 are
dependent on angle. For the night sky radiant cooling we have to expect this angle dependence because of
the varying optical thickness of the atmosphere with the zenith angle (see below). The cosine dependence
within the integrals in Eq. (1) has given a number of different names: projected solid angle, radiation
interaction factor, configuration factor or view factor. The latter can also be expressed in simple words [7]:
The view factor is the fraction of the radiation leaving surface A1 which is intercepted by surface A2. If the
radiation exchange is measured using a finite detector area with a hemispheric field of view, the net radiation
exchange is given by the integration according to Eq. (1). If a detector with strongly limited field of view is
used, the radiation exchange is given by the integrand of Eq. (1) for a fixed angle. The use of a
thermocamera conforms to this situation. The field of view of one detector element is determined by the IFOV
dependent on the focal length of the camera optics and the detector size. For the SC2000 camera with the
standard 24o optics the IFOV is 1.1mrad. Therefore an infrared image of the sky taken with a camera gives
the angular dependent radiation exchange within the camera field of view.
For the experimental analysis we have to consider that heat flux due to radiant night cooling is influenced by
the angular dependence of the radiance (angular dependent optical thickness of the atmosphere) and the
view factor (radiation geometry).
InfraMation 2008 Proceedings ITC 126 A 2008-05-14
(1) EFFECTIVE NIGHT SKY TEMPERATURE
Sometimes thermal images of the sky are presented to show the effective sky temperature and the angular
sky temperature dependence.

Figure 3 depicts a typical infrared image of the night sky with clear sky conditions. The temperature
measured along the line shown in the infrared image decreases with a decreasing zenith angle from 10
degrees centigrade at about 90o to – 45 degrees centigrade at about 66o degrees. But this experiment
demonstrates only qualitatively the angular dependence of the radiant heat loss. A quantitative temperature
measurement is not possible, since the camera can only give correct temperature values if it is possible to
calculate the correct object signal from the measured radiation signal. The sky temperature measurement
with a thermal imaging system does not fulfill this requirement. It is not possible to specify correct
measurement distance or humidity. With increasing altitude the atmospheric density and temperature
decrease. The transmittance correction by the LOWTRAN-model used in the camera software to correct the
measured signal by the atmospheric transmittance only works for constant pressure, i.e. height and
completely fails for sky temperature measurements. A detailed analysis of sky radiation as seen from the
earth (spectral radiance of clear and cloudy sky at different zenith angles) is given in [5].

240 66

200 70

160 74

zenith angle θZ (o)

Pixel

120 78

80 82

40 86

0 90
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10
o
Displayed Temperature in C

Figure 3. Typical thermal image of a clear night sky, angular range 24o (left), Demonstration of slope angle
dependence of the effective night sky temperature (right)

To circumvent this problem one can define an effective sky temperature Tsky using the net radiant heat flux
qrad from an object at Trad towards the sky using the Stefan – Boltzmann law:

4 4
qrad = ε rad σ (Trad − Tsky ) (2)

Where εrad is the emissivity of the radiating surface and σ the Stefan – Boltzmann – constant.

The effective sky temperature depends on the outdoor ambient air temperature (Tambient), the cloud cover (Cc)
and the clear sky emissivity (εclear) can be calculated from empirical formulas One of them is, e.g.

0.25
Tsky = ε clear Cc 0.25 Tambient (3)

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The clear sky emissivity depends on the atmospheric moisture content, in particular on the dew point
temperature in degrees centigrade [8]

2
⎛ Tdp ⎞ ⎛T ⎞
ε clear = 0.711 + 0.56 ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ + 0.73 ⎜⎜ dp ⎟⎟ (4)
⎝ 100 ⎠ ⎝ 100 ⎠
and the cloud cover influence (n = opaque sky cover in tenth) [9]

Cc = 1.0 + 0.00224 n + 0.0035 n 2 + 0.0028 n 3 (5)

From equation (3) we can calculate for example the effective sky temperature for the following conditions:
outdoor ambient temperature Tambient = 283 K, dew point temperature Tdp = 5o C, no cloud cover n=0.

The effective sky temperature results in Tsky = 263 K or –13.1 oC. According to equation (2) the radiant heat
flux rate results in 77 Wm-2 for εrad = 1.

(2) EXEMPLARY MEASUREMENTS

The radiant heat flux was analyzed experimentally during a calm and clear sky night. For the measurement a
heat flux plate as described in [10,11] was used. The heat flow through it is measured by the temperature
difference between its back and front side. The backside temperature was stabilized by a large water
reservoir (volume ≈ 20 l, temperature T0 = 150C). Two thermocouples were used to measure the ground and
the air temperature respectively. The thermocouple for the air temperature measurement was covered with
an aluminum foil to avoid radiant cooling. The depth of the ground thermocouple was about 2 cm. The
equipment and the measurement results are shown in Figure 4.

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 Temperature Sensors
Air Ground
Heat Flux Plate

Electronics
Data Transfer

20 200

15 150

heating
Air Temperature

Heat Flux in W/m2

Temperature in oC

10 100

5 50

Ground Temperature
0 0

cooling
-5 -50

-10 -100
7 PM 9 PM 11 PM 1 AM 3 AM 5 AM 7 AM 9 AM Time

Sunset Sunrise
8:27 PM 5:42 AM

Figure 4. Measurement of clear night sky radiant heat flux, air and ground temperatures
(Top: experimental arrangement; Bottom: experimental results)

After sunset the heat flux due to radiant cooling of the night sky increases. At the beginning the measurement
is influenced by some clouds. A maximum night sky radiant heat flux of 60 W/m2 is observed. This value is in
agreement with the previous calculated heat flux if we assume an effective emissivity of about εrad = 0.8. The
expected decrease of the heat flux with decreasing ambient air temperature is observed. But this result can
also be influenced by a slight cooling of the water reservoir during the night also resulting in a decrease of the
measured heat flux. After sunrise the sign of the heat flux changes and the heat flux increases rapidly due to
the solar radiation. The measurement range of the heat flux plate is limited and saturation occurs at a heat
flux of 140 W/m2.

After sunset the ground temperature falls below the air temperature. This radiant cooling phenomenon is
often observed during clear sky nights. Depending on the outdoor ambient temperature, the ground
temperature can fall below the dew point temperature and sometimes also below the freezing point (wet grass
in the morning or frost on the windshield of a car), although the air temperature is above these values.

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(3) INFLUENCE OF AIR MASS
The heat flux plate used for the experimental analysis exchanges radiation with a hemisphere. The effective
sky temperature increases with increasing zenith angles, see Figure 3. Because of the angular dependent
effective sky temperature the total radiant flux has to be calculated by integration over the whole solid angle,
see [5-7]. Therefore the resulting heat flux gives a kind of averaged sky temperature.

This behavior is due to the total absorption or emission of atmospheric gases which is determined by their
optical thickness along the line of sight, see [12]. The minimum optical thickness of the atmosphere exists for
zero zenith angle and increases with increasing zenith angle. The concept of air mass is introduced to
describe the angular dependence of optical thickness of the atmosphere, see [13]. The air mass resembles
the path length of light in the atmosphere relative to that at zenith. The result of the air mass calculation using
a simple model for the atmosphere [13] is shown in Figure 5.

100
optical air mass

10

1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
0
zenith angle ( )

Figure 5. Air mass as a function of zenith angle

The increasing optical air mass (AM) with increasing zenith angle connected with higher atmospheric
absorption/emission causes an increasing effective night sky temperature as shown in Figure 3. This
behavior can also be analyzed by measuring the angle dependent object signal detected by the camera.
Figure 6 depicts the results of the object signal measurement along a vertical line similar as in Figure 3 for
three thermal images with different zenith angle of the camera. These results confirm the described influence
of the optical air mass on the radiant night sky cooling. With increasing optical thickness along the line of
sight at zenith angle θZ the IR absorption/emission increases. The large optical thickness at θZ = 90o (AM ≈
40) causes higher contributions of lower atmosphere altitude with higher atmospheric temperatures to the IR
detector signal of the camera. A higher temperature is measured. At θZ = 0o the optical thickness of the
atmosphere is small (AM =1) and the atmospheric contribution to the signal is strongly reduced.

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 1.0

0.8
object signal a.u.

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
0
zenith angle ( )

Figure 6. Zenith angle θZ dependence of clear night sky heat flux

(object signal measured by the camera) – Influence of the air mass

(4) INFLUENCE OF GEOMETRY – THE VIEW FACTOR

The radiant night sky cooling will be influenced by the view factor. For the view field of an object different
situations as illustrated in Figure 7 are possible. For an object with a horizontal surface, see Figure 7(a) the
sky cooling occurs within the full range of the half sphere. For sloped surfaces the range for sky cooling is
reduced and radiation is partially also exchanged with the ground (Figure 7(b)) or with the ground and other
objects (Figure 7(c).

zenith Tsky(θZ) zenith zenith

Tsky(θZ) Tsky(θZ)

sky sky
sky
reduced range
full range of half of half sphere
sphere for sky cooling

object
Tground
ground Tobject
ground
Tground

(a) view field: only sky (b) view field: sky + ground (c) view field: sky + object + ground
Figure 7. Different situations for the radiation exchange

The radiant night sky cooling rate will depend on the slope angle of the object surface (e.g. of a roof). The
theoretical calculation of the angle dependent radiant heat flux to the night sky exhibits a complex problem.
For the description of the radiation exchange between any two surfaces the concept of a view factor (also
called configuration or shape factor) is introduced (Eq. 1), for detailed description see [5-7]. We want to
illustrate some features of the view factor in Figure 8. If the view direction equals the surface normal the view
factor equals unity (Figure 8, left), i.e. the effective area which can exchange radiation with the zenith sky
equals the real area size. With increasing the slope angle the effective area size decreases with the cosine-
law (projection of the area to the view direction), see Figure 8, right.

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 zenith angle zenith angle
0o 0o
θ θ

Aeff = A cos ϕ
Aeff = A Aeff = A cos θ Aeff = A cos (ϕ-θ)
for θ = 0 for θ > 0 ϕ

normal vector of the area

normal vector of the area

Figure 8. Illustration of the view factor for a surface area A with different orientation to zenith angle

Due to the complexity of a theoretical calculation the slope angle dependence was analyzed experimentally,
see Figure 9. The heat flux was measured for different zenith angles of the heat flux plates. The measured
anglular dependence of the radiant heat flux to the clear sky is due to the angle dependent effective sky
temperature and the effective area of the heat flux plate for the radiation exchange (angular dependent by
cosine law Aeff = A cos α with the angle α = ϕ − θ between the normal vector of the heat flux plate surface and
the view direction).

Orientation of the heat flux plate

60
heat flux measured (W/m2)

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
0
zenith angle ( )

Figure 9. Zenith angle dependence of clear night sky heat flux measured with a 0.25 m x 0.25 m heat flux
plate – Influence of the view factor and the air mass (blue circles – measurement results using the heat flux
plate, red curve – proportional to exp(-const.*air mass)

With increasing zenith angle the heat flux decreases. But the observed decrease is lower than expected from
the optical air mass only. For comparison a functional dependence proportional to exp(-const.* air mass) is
used in Figure 9. This function describes the absorption and emission of the atmosphere important for the

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radiation exchange. The deviation of the measured heat flux from this functional dependence is caused by
the fact that the heat flux plate integrates contributions from all zenith angles within 180o field of view. Due to
the view factor the effective area of the plate for radiation exchange varies from the whole plate area (view
factor equals unity, see Figure 8) for the view direction in parallel to the normal vector of the plate surface to
zero area (view factor equals zero, see Figure 8) at an angle of + 90o between the normal vector of the plate
surface and the view direction. This results in a measured cooling rate for a zenith angle of 90o of about 10
W/m2, see Figure 9. Obviously the heat flux caused by radiation exchange with increasing zenith angle will
become more and more influenced by the surrounding (e.g. surrounding objects) and ground temperatures,
see Figure 7.

(5) CLOUDS
Clouds will increase the effective sky temperature, see Figure 10. This is caused by the infrared radiation
emission of the clouds and the fact that most clouds are essentially opaque in the IR-range of the
thermocameras. Thin clouds with optical thickness below unity are more difficult. If the sky is cloudy, part of
the infra-red radiation from the Earth is trapped by the clouds. Some of this radiation is then re-emitted
back to the Earth's surface. Using Equations (2) – (5) for the situation discussed above but for completely
overcast skies the calculation will result in a strongly decreased heat flux rate of about 7 W/m2 for the night
sky cooling. But this result only represents an approximation of the expected heat flux because the effective
sky temperature of a cloudy sky depends on the height of the cloud cover (height dependent atmospheric
temperatures, i.e. height dependent effective cloud temperature contributing to the IR signal measured).

Figure10. Influence of clouds on effective sky temperature (VIS – image taken during the day,
IR – image of similar cloud cover taken during the night)

INFLUENCE ON OUTDOOR THERMAL IMAGING ANALYSIS

Some outdoor experiments were carried out to demonstrate the influence of the night sky cooling on the
results of thermal imaging analysis. The experiments were carried out with calm and clear night sky
conditions.

(1) CARS INSIDE OR OUTSIDE OF CARPORTS

It is known that parking a car in a carport can prevent the cooling down of the car windshield to a temperature
below the dew point or the freezing point of water. This behavior is shown in Figure 11. In the left part of
Figure 11 two cars are parked, one in and one outside a carport. The carport roof consists of 3.5 mm thick
plastics and is opaque in the infrared. During a clear sky night the areas of the outside parked car directed to
the sky are strongly cooled down to –12 degrees centigrade. Because of the absence of the radiant heat flux
to the sky (situation as depicted in Figure 7 (c) with reduced range for sky radiant cooling to zero) the
temperature of the car in the carport equals the ambient temperature of – 4 degrees centigrade.

The right part of Figure 11 depicts a partially covered wind shield of the car outside (view field as depicted in
Figure 7 (b)) with an ordinary aluminum foil with a thickness of about 30 µm. The high reflectivity (R > 95%)
of the aluminum foil causes a low emissivity ε < 0.05 of the covered area. The radiant energy loss during the
night is reduced to a minimum and the infrared image (left bottom in Figure 11) depicts the higher
temperature of the previously foil covered area. The thermal conductivity of glass is very low, λglass ≈ 0.7
W/(m.K). Therefore, the temperature difference of about 5 K between the to areas of the windshield can be

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observed. For comparison aluminum foil was placed at an area of the engine hood (see Figure 11, top right).
The infrared image just shows a tiny hint of a temperature difference on the engine hood because the thermal
conductivity of the metal is much larger (λsteel ≈ 50 W/(m.K)) which leads to a fast temperature equalization.

Figure 11. Two parked cars (one in and one outside a carport with a plastics roof) after a clear sky night during
winter) During another day-the wind shield and the engine hood of the car parked outside were partially
covered with an aluminum foil. The foil was removed directly before recording of the IR image.

(2) WALLS OF HOUSES FACING CLEAR SKY

For wall of buildings the view factor for the night sky cooling is much smaller than for the car windshield
because there is a 90 degree angle to the zenith. To analyze the influence of clear sky radiant cooling on the
temperature of a wall without any neighboring obstacles (situation as depicted in Figure 7(b) for vertical
surface), i.e. really facing the night sky, two areas of the wall were covered with aluminum foil at sunset, see
Figure 12.

Four hours after sunset the foil was removed and a thermal image was taken. Similar to the windshield of the
car, the previously covered areas exhibit a higher temperature with a ΔT reading up to 6 K caused by the
reduced night sky cooling. Because of the low thermal conductivity there is no fast thermalization in the wall.

InfraMation 2008 Proceedings ITC 126 A 2008-05-14

Figure 12. Areas of an outside building wall covered with aluminum foil (left), thermal image of the wall after
removal of the aluminum foil 4 hours after sunset (right)

(3) SHIELDING OF WALLS BY ROOF OF CARPORT

A carport roof can pose an obstacle for the radiant heat flow, see Figure 13. The temperature of the carport
roof is strongly decreased by the night sky cooling but remains at a higher temperature level than the effective
night sky temperature due to the large thermal time constant. The radiant energy loss of the wall below the
carport roof (see temperatures of AR01, situation as depicted in Figure 7 (c) for a vertical surface with
reduced range for sky radiant cooling to zero) is much smaller than the energy loss of the wall above the roof
(see temperatures of AR04, situation as depicted in Figure 7 (c) for a vertical surface with reduced range for
sky radiant cooling). The small wooden house (see Figure 13 at the rear end of the carport) is also
completely covered by the carport roof. But the temperature of this wooden house is smaller than the
temperature of the building wall (compare temperatures of AR02 and AR01). This effect is caused by the
much faster cooling down of the frame house than a brick wall at the same heat loss due to the smaller
thermal capacitance (smaller thermal time constant). The thermal time constant for a brick wall is much
higher, see [4].

The field of view to the night sky of the wall in front of the carport (see AR03) is limited by the carport roof
(situation as depicted in Figure 7 (c) with strongly reduced range for sky radiant cooling). This reduced view
factor causes a lower radiant cooling rate, resulting in a higher wall temperature (compare temperatures of
AR03 and AR04).

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Analysis
Label Value [°C] Min Max
AR01 6.8 8.5
AR02 4.0 5.5
AR03 4.5 6.7
AR04 2.5 5.3
Figure 13. Influence of different radiant cooling rates on the temperature distribution of an outside building wall. The
thermal image was taken four hours after sunset.

(4) THE INFLUENCE OF NEIGHBOURING BUILDINGS AND ROOF OVERHANG

Fig. 14 depicts the results of an outdoor thermal imaging analysis of buildings. Some areas of the walls are
marked in the thermal image for a detailed analysis. In the west direction (see the VIS image in Figure 14)
there is no surrounding property with buildings. The side wall of the white colored house faces in the south
the house in the foreground of the VIS image.

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 Analysis

Label Value [°C]

Min Max
AR01 7.8 8.8

AR02 12.6 13.7

AR03 9.1 10.0

AR04 11.8 12.8

AR05 15.7 17.1

Figure 14. Influence of radiant night sky cooling on wall temperatures with a temperature analysis of the marked areas
(detail of the thermal image with small span bottom right, expanded view around the window )

The comparison of the areas A01 facing west and A03 facing south indicates a temperature difference of the
two walls. This temperature difference is not a result of different thermal insulation but a result of different
radiant cooling rates. It was checked experimentally that there is no influence of an angle dependent
emissivity on the thermal imaging results. From the VIS image we conclude, that the radiant cooling rate of
the south wall of the building (AR03, situation as depicted in Figure 7 (b)) is less than for the west wall (AR01,
situation as depicted in Figure 7 (c)). The radiation exchange with the cold sky is decreased due to the
neighboring house. This results in a radiation exchange with the sky only in a limited field of view and
additionally with the outside wall (at much higher temperature than the effective sky temperature) of the
neighboring house. The west wall of the house has no obstruction of the field of view by any object.
Therefore the total radiant loss of the west wall exceeds the loss of the south wall.

The marked areas A02 and A04 in Figure 14 depict the effect of the roof overhang on the radiant cooling rate.
At the bottom side of the overhang (see temperature of AR02) the temperature is much higher due to the
strongly decreased radiant cooling. The decrease of the view factor for the cold sky in the upper region of the

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side wall (see temperatures of AR04) by the overhang causes an area with at a higher temperature level.
Such experimental results often lead to misinterpretations of thermal images. The higher temperature areas
caused by reduced radiant cooling are misinterpreted as thermal leaks. An example for a real thermal
leakage is also shown in the expanded view around the window. The wall temperature due to bad thermal
insulation is larger at the roller shutter housing (marked by an arrow), see detail of the thermal image in
Figure 14 bottom right.

Another example of possible misinterpretation of thermal images concerns the temperature of the west walls
of the two buildings. The measured wall temperature of the house in the foreground is significantly higher
(see temperatures of AR01 and AR05 in Figure 14). This is caused by different wall construction and not by a
different thermal insulation. The house wall exhibiting the higher temperature consists of a brick wall at the
outside, an air gap and an insulated inner wall. Due to the high thermal capacitance the heat storage
capacity (after sunny days) is large. The wall of the other house consists of a thin (2 cm) plaster followed by
thermal insulation and inner wall. The thermal storage capacitance of the plaster is much smaller than that of
the brick wall. Therefore the wall of this house exhibits a lower temperature at the surface if there is a strong
heat loss at the surface due to the radiant cooling. The measured temperatures do not represent the energy
loss of the houses but rather the transient effect of cooling down during the night after heating during the day
(sun and air).

(5) WINDOWS
If a LW camera is used for thermal imaging the night sky reflection at glass surfaces strongly influences the
measurement results. The right window in Figure 15 reflects the night sky and seems to be colder. This
behavior of glass surfaces is discussed in detail in [14].

Figure 15. Influence of the reflected clear sky on thermal images (measurement four hours after sunset)

Night sky radiant cooling causes heat loss at skylight windows. It is possible to reduce this radiant heat loss
using rolling shutters for the skylight windows, see Figure 16. A roof with two dual pane skylight windows was
analyzed. During a clear sky night one of the rolling shutters (left in Figure 16) was open and the other one
(right in Figure 16) was closed during the night. The rolling shutter of the right window was opened directly
before the IR image was taken. For the thermal imaging a MW camera was used. For detailed information
about temperature measurements at window panes with MW cameras see [14].

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Figure 16. Influence of a rolling shutter on the outside temperature of skylight window panes – The rolling shutter at
the right skylight window was opened directly before recording of the IR image measurement at sunrise).

The temperature of the skylight window previously shielded by the closed roller shutter exhibit a higher
temperature with a ΔT reading up to 5 K due to the reduced night sky cooling. Consequently the temperature
difference between the inside and the outside window pane temperature is lower than for the other window.
This causes a lower heat loss through the skylight window.

(6) TRANSIENT EFFECTS CAUSED BY DIFFERENT HEAT CAPACITANCE

Transient heat transfer conditions can induce problems for the interpretation of thermal images. Figure 17
depicts a wooden garden fence on a base of concrete and bricks. A typical wrong interpretation of such an
image could be the assumption that heating pipes are below the fence. Due to the low thermal mass the
garden fence cools down very quickly. The base however can store much more heat and cools down more
slowly. Such behavior has to be expected if there are large differences of the day and night heat flux rates at
the object surfaces measured. This effect becomes especially important if there is a clear night sky with a
large radiant cooling rate after a sunny day with a large radiant heating rate. For a detailed discussion of the
size dependent cooling of objects see [4]. A simple estimate of the time constant for a finite object as shown
in Figure 17 can be made by taking the ratio of the thermal capacitance of the base of the fence of about 5
MJ/K (thermal capacitance of the bricks about 0.9kJ/(K kg), geometry of the base 15 m x 0.25 x 1 m, density
of concrete about 1,500 kg/m3) and thermal conductance of 500 W/K (radiation exchange with the
surrounding and convection) gives a cooling time constant of about 3 hours. This value is not very accurate
but shows the order of magnitude for massive building walls. A time constant of the order of some hours has
to be expected. If there are strong changes in the heat flux rates from day to night, e.g. strong radiant cooling
during clear sky nights, the transient behavior of the cooling down process of massive objects has to be
considered within the interpretation of thermal images.

Figure 17. Transient temperature distribution caused by different thermal time constants

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SUMMARY
The environment can affect the thermal signature of an object in a complex way. These influences on the
thermal imaging need to be considered for a correct interpretation of a thermal image as described in [15]
Outdoor thermal imaging analysis should be done during the night to avoid the influence of solar radiation on
the measurement results. It is commonly known that solar radiation can dramatically change the thermal
signature on object surfaces as walls of buildings. But also the night sky radiant cooling effect, especially
during clear sky nights, strongly influences the temperature values and the temperature distribution on
outdoor surfaces. There are a lot of factors that influence the resulting thermal signature due to sky radiant
cooling such as the zenith angle or the view factor, the effective sky temperature determined by the humidity
and the cloud covering of the sky, covering of the sky by other objects and radiation exchange with other
objects within the field of view etc. Especially during clear sky nights a large heat flux is observed with a
strong cooling effect on the object surface. This can cause a transient heat flow characterized by the thermal
time constant (up to some hours for walls of buildings) determined by the ratio of heat capacitance and the
heat conductance of the object. Therefore an interpretation of thermal images strongly influenced by night
sky cooling may be very difficult. The best way to overcome this dilemma is a thermal imaging analysis
during nights with a strong cloudiness (and after a cloudy day to prevent solar heating!).

REFERENCES
[1] Fixsen et al.,"The Cosmic Microwave Background Spectrum from the Full COBE FIRAS Data
Sets" (1996), Astrophysical Journal, 473, 576
[2] Parker, Danny S.; “Theoretical Evaluation of the Night Cool Nocturnal Radiation Cooling Concept”, FSEC-
CR-1502-05 (April 2005), Report of Florida Solar Energy Center to U.S. Department of Energy
[3] Mwithiga, Gikuru and Kirui, Anthony C. ; “Potential of Nightsky Nocturnal Radiative Cooling as a Fresh
Produce Preservation Method“, Advanced Materials Research Vols. 18-19 (2007) pp. 325-330
[4] Vollmer, Michael; Möllmann, Klaus-Peter; Pinno, Frank; “Cheese cubes, light bulbs, soft drinks: An
unusual approach to study convection, radiation and size dependent heating and cooling”; Inframation
2008 Proceedings Vol. 9; ITC 126 A 2008-05-14
[5] Ed. Wolfe, William L.; Zissis, George J.; „The Infrared Handbook“; (1993); IRIA Series in Infrared &
Electro-Optics, Infrared Information Analysis Center, Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, USA
[6] DeWitt, David P.; Nutter, Gene D.; “Theory and Practice of Radiation Thermometry”; John Wiley & Sons,
New York (1988)
[7] Incropera, Frank P. ; DeWitt, David P.; “Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer”;(4th ed. 1996); John
Wiley & Sons, New York
[8] Martin, M.; Berdahl, P.; “Characteristics of Infrared Sky Radiation in the United States”, Solar Energy,
(1984), Vol. 33, pp. 321-326
[9] Clark, Gene; Blanpied, M.; “The Effect of IR Transparent Windscreens on Net Nocturnal Cooling from
Horizontal Surfaces”, (1979), Proc. 4th National Passive Solar Conference, Kansas City, MO.
[10] Child, Peter R. N.; “Practical Temperature Measurement”, (2001), Butterworth – Heinemann a division of
Reed Educational and Professional Publishing Ltd., Oxford, U.K.
[11] Möllmann, Klaus-Peter; Pinno, Frank; Vollmer, Michael; “Influence of wind effects on thermal imaging – is
the wind chill effect relevant?”; Inframation 2007 Proceedings Vol. 8, pp 21-31; ITC 121 A 2007-05-24
[12] Vollmer, Michael ; Henke, Steffen; Karstädt, Detlef; Möllmann, Klaus-Peter and Pinno, Frank;
„Challenges in Infrared Imaging: Low Emissivities of Hot Gases, Metals, and Metallic Cavities”;
Inframation 2004 Proceedings Vol. 5; pp. 355-364; ITC 104 A 2004-07-27
[13] Vollmer, Michael ; Gedzelman, S. D.; „Colours of the Sun and Moon: the role of the optical air mass“;
Eur. J. Phys. 27 (2006), pp. 299-309
[14] Pinno, Frank; Möllmann, Klaus-Peter; Vollmer, Michael; “Thermography of window panes – problems,
possibilities and troubleshooting”; Inframation 2008 Proceedings Vol. 9; ITC 126 A 2008-05-14
[15] Holst, Gerald C. ; “Common Sense Approach to Thermal Imaging”; JCD Publishing, Winter Park, Florida
USA and SPIE Optical Engineering Press, Bellingham Washington USA, (2000)

InfraMation 2008 Proceedings ITC 126 A 2008-05-14

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
K.-P. Möllmann studied physics in Halle and Berlin receiving his PhD in 1983 and Habilitation (1989) in solid
state physics, in particular in the development of HgCdTe infrared detectors. Since 1994 he has been a
professor of physics at the University of Applied Sciences, in Brandenburg, Germany. He has worked in
infrared thermal imaging, pyrometry, thin film and MEMS technology and is a level II certified Thermographer.

Frank Pinno studied physics in Potsdam, Germany where he received his PhD (1991) in solid state physics.
Since 1994, he has been employed as a scientific assistant (physics) at the University of Applied Sciences in
Brandenburg, Germany, working in the field of infrared thermal imaging and projects in applied sciences.
Frank is a Level II certified Thermographer.

Michael Vollmer studied physics in Heidelberg, Germany, receiving a PhD (1986) and Habilitation (1991) in
optical spectroscopy of metal clusters. Since 1994 he has been a professor of physics at the University of
Applied Sciences in Brandenburg/Germany, working in the fields of infrared thermal imaging, spectroscopy,
atmospheric optics, and didactics of physics. He is a Level II certified Thermographer.

InfraMation 2008 Proceedings ITC 126 A 2008-05-14

InfraMation 2008 Proceedings ITC 126 A 2008-05-14