Infrared sensors also enhance the overall situation awareness of airport personnel in degraded weather conditions. Texas Instruments, headquartered in Dallas, markets the low-cost infrared cameras under the NightSight name and is providing the units for the tests. For a minimal investment in this project, the FAA will reap great rewards. As part of the development team, the FAA provided expertise, advice and test facilities, and in return gains a product with immediate application. But a new program, supported by the FAA, has developed low-cost, easily manufactured infrared sensors that use an innovative combination of barium, strontium and titanate.
All objects emit energy at levels determined by their temperature.
The device measures temperature differences between objects in the scene and electronically creates a thermal image for display using shades of gray. This permits users to separate people and other warm objects from a background in daylight or the darkest night. This new technology is the result of a cooperative Technology Reinvestment Project created by the Night Vision Consortium. It also includes a government technical advisory board composed of representatives from the FAA, the U.S. Coast Guard, the FBI, the Secret Service, the U.S. Army's Night Vision Electronic Sensors Directorate and the Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration. These are multi-agency efforts, led by the DOD Advanced Research Projects Agency and supported by the Departments of Transportation, Commerce and Energy, as well as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation.