Humans cannot directly see infrared radiation.

They can, how-

ever, feel or sense it in the form of thermal radiation, which pro-
duces warming of the surface of the skin. The skin of the human
cheek below the eye can normally sense the increased thermal
radiation of a warm palm held at a distance of 2 inches (5 cm) at a
room temperature of 70�F (21�C).5
In physics, the word �heat� can be either a noun or a verb: a warm
body will heat (verb) a cooler body, increasing the heat (noun) of the
cooler body. As a noun, heat refers to the total amount of random
kinetic energy the molecules of a substance have at any given moment,
measured in units of joules (J). Heat as a verb refers to energy transfer
from a warm to a cold body. The cooler body increases its internal
energy, while the warmer body decreases its internal energy until
the temperatures of the two bodies become equal. This heat transfer
does not stop when the two bodies are at the same temperature. The
bodies continue to radiate heat toward one another, but the radiation
balances out, so the net energy transfer is zero.
Objects at high temperatures are capable of emitting radia-
tion with shorter wavelengths than infrared, including visible
and ultraviolet light. Steel at 1500�C (2732�F, 1773�K) has a peak
emitted wavelength of 1.64 �m in the near-infrared band, yet it
appears white hot to the human eye due to emitting some radia-
tion in the visible range (see the radiation curves in Figure 2.5).
For bodies having physiologic surface temperatures, however, the
radiated energy peaks within the 7�14 �m octave of the electro-
magnetic spectrum and even the shorter wavelengths emitted are
invisible to the eye. The human body emits its peak radiation in
the 9�10 �m part of the spectrum, thus imagers with detectors
sensitive to this radiation are preferred in medical thermogra-
phy. Imagers capable of viewing other infrared wavelengths are of
more practical use in industrial and scientific research settings.
The term �emissivity� in thermal imaging refers to the ability
of a surface to emit or absorb radiation within 9�10-�m infrared
range. The range of emissivity runs from 1.0 (the ideal emitter/
absorber) to 0.0 (the ideal reflector). In physics, a blackbody is an
object that has an emissivity of 1.0. None of the incident radiation
is reflected from or passes through a perfect blackbody. Thus, a
blackbody completely absorbs all radiant energy reaching it, and
simultaneously emits radiant energy. If not otherwise heated or
cooled, it eventually attains a temperature equal to its environ-
ment and then maintains that energy balance.
The physical opposite of an infrared blackbody is a surface that
is extremely shiny and reflective to infrared. Mathematically,
emissivity (e) plus reflectance (R) add up to unity: (e + R = 1).
Polished aluminum or brass surfaces have an infrared emissivity
of 3% (e = 0.03), meaning that they reflect 97% of incoming rays. A
silver-coated glass mirror has a similar high infrared reflectance.
Liquid water, though it may appear to have visible reflectivity, has
an infrared emissivity of 0.95�0.96 (perpendicular to the water
surface), almost as emissive as human skin.6
There are four fundamental mechanisms by which the heat
generated by the human body is transferred to its surroundings,
as discussed in the following text.