Correcting noncontact infrared thermometer data by removing contamination of the intervening atmosphere

A method for enhancing performance of a selected one of either a wideband or narrowband noncontact infrared thermometer type comprising the steps of:

• providing a linkage between the selected noncontact infrared thermometer type and a microprocessor;
• obtaining simultaneous wideband and narrowband infrared thermometer temperature measurements of a cloud margin and, in the microprocessor, assembling numeric integrals of product of water vapor density and water vapor physical temperature and product of dry air density and dry air physical temperature from the infrared thermometer to said cloud margin, constructing a first linear cardinal equation consisting of summations of said numeric integrals multiplied by unknown absorption coefficients of each corresponding to difference between said wideband and said narrowband infrared thermometer temperature measurements of said cloud margin, from at least one different atmospheric humidity condition constructing at least a second linear cardinal equation consisting of summations of said numeric integrals multiplied by unknown absorption coefficients of each corresponding to difference between said wideband and said narrowband infrared thermometer temperature measurements of said cloud margin, processing said first and second linear cardinal equations to resolve said unknown absorption coefficients and provide first means for determining dry atmospheric constituency and water vapor absorption coefficients, iterating to provide second means for determining dry atmospheric constituency and water vapor absorption coefficients, and processing said means to determine dry atmospheric constituency absorption coefficient specific to the noncontact infrared thermometer type and water vapor absorption coefficient specific to the noncontact infrared thermometer type;
• deploying the selected noncontact infrared thermometer type to obtain raw target temperature data across an intervening atmosphere and providing the temperature data at the microprocessor;
• and
• in the microprocessor, implementing said coefficients in processing with site-based atmospheric temperature and water vapor density profile and pressure measurements to provide corrected target temperature data compensating for contamination in said raw data due to said intervening atmosphere.

A method for enhancing performance of a selected wideband noncontact infrared thermometer type comprising the steps of:

• providing a linkage between the selected wideband noncontact infrared thermometer type and a microprocessor;
• obtaining simultaneous wideband and narrowband infrared thermometer temperature measurements of a cloud margin and, in the microprocessor, assembling numeric integrals of product of water vapor density and water vapor physical temperature and product of dry air density and dry air physical temperature from the infrared thermometer to said cloud margin, constructing a first linear cardinal equation consisting of summations of said numeric integrals multiplied by unknown absorption coefficients of each corresponding to difference between said wideband and said narrowband infrared thermometer temperature measurements of said cloud margin, from at least one different atmospheric humidity condition, constructing at least a second linear cardinal equation consisting of summations of said numeric integrals multiplied by unknown absorption coefficients of each corresponding to difference between said wideband and said narrowband infrared thermometer temperature measurements of said cloud margin, processing said first and second linear cardinal equations to resolve said unknown absorption coefficients and provide first means for determining dry atmospheric constituency and water vapor absorption coefficients, iterating to provide second means for determining dry atmospheric constituency and water vapor absorption coefficients, and processing said means to determine said dry atmospheric constituency absorption coefficient and water vapor absorption coefficient specific to the noncontact infrared thermometer type;
• deploying the selected wideband noncontact infrared thermometer type to obtain raw target temperature data across an intervening atmosphere and providing the temperature data at the microprocessor;
• and
• at the microprocessor, obtaining profiles of water vapor density and temperature across said intervening atmosphere;
• in the microprocessor, matching said narrowband infrared thermometer temperature measurements with said temperature profile to determine altitude of said cloud margin;
• in the microprocessor, processing said water vapor density and temperature profiles to determine a water vapor partial pressure profile and subtracting said water vapor partial pressure from total pressure to determine dry constituency pressure and dry constituency density at selected altitudes;
• in the microprocessor, determining a dry constituency pressure profile in processing with local temperature and previous layer pressure;
• and
• in the microprocessor, implementing said coefficients in processing with said profiles and said pressure measurements to provide corrected target temperature data compensating for contamination in said raw data due to said intervening atmosphere.