TY - JOUR

T1 - Reporting of thermography parameters in biology

T2 - a systematic review of thermal imaging literature

AU - Harrap, Mike

AU - Hempel de Ibarra, Natalie

AU - Whitney, Heather

AU - Rands, Sean

PY - 2018/12

Y1 - 2018/12

N2 - Infrared thermography, where temperature measurements are made with infrared cameras, has proven to be a very useful and widely-used tool in biological science. Several thermography parameters are critical to the proper operation of thermal cameras and the accuracy of measurements, and these must usually be provided to the camera. Failure to account for these parameters may lead to less accurate measurements. Furthermore, the failure to provide information of parameter choices in reports may compromise appraisal of accuracy and replicate studies. In this review we investigate how well biologists report thermography parameters. This is done through a systematic review of biological thermography literature that included articles published between years 2007 and 2017. We found that in primary biological thermography papers, which make some kind of quantitative temperature measurement, 48% fail to report values used for emissivity (an object’s capacity to emit thermal radiation relative to a black body radiator), which is the minimum level of reporting that should take place. This finding highlights the need for life scientists to take into account and report key parameter information when carrying out thermography, in the future.

AB - Infrared thermography, where temperature measurements are made with infrared cameras, has proven to be a very useful and widely-used tool in biological science. Several thermography parameters are critical to the proper operation of thermal cameras and the accuracy of measurements, and these must usually be provided to the camera. Failure to account for these parameters may lead to less accurate measurements. Furthermore, the failure to provide information of parameter choices in reports may compromise appraisal of accuracy and replicate studies. In this review we investigate how well biologists report thermography parameters. This is done through a systematic review of biological thermography literature that included articles published between years 2007 and 2017. We found that in primary biological thermography papers, which make some kind of quantitative temperature measurement, 48% fail to report values used for emissivity (an object’s capacity to emit thermal radiation relative to a black body radiator), which is the minimum level of reporting that should take place. This finding highlights the need for life scientists to take into account and report key parameter information when carrying out thermography, in the future.

KW - thermography

KW - thermal camera

KW - infrared

KW - emissivity

KW - temperature measurement

U2 - 10.1098/rsos.181281

DO - 10.1098/rsos.181281

M3 - Article

VL - 5

JO - Royal Society Open Science

JF - Royal Society Open Science

SN - 2054-5703

M1 - 181281

ER -