Patent ID: 8787619

Claim:
A temporal thermal method for detecting thermal inertia differences comprising: using an empirical method to determine a first imaging time and a second imaging time; creating a first temperature map from data obtained by imaging at least one IR wavelength band at the first imaging time at a first location and a second location; creating a second temperature map from data obtained by imaging at least one IR wavelength band at the second imaging time at the first location and the second location; and using a computer to determine the existence of a thermal inertia difference between the first location and the second location using the first and second temperature maps, wherein the first imaging time occurs before the first location reaches its daily low thermal response or annual low thermal response, and wherein the second imaging time occurs before the first location reaches its daily high thermal response or annual high thermal response; wherein the temperature difference between the first location and the second location is greater than a surface emissivity noise of the first and second locations, whereby the first imaging time and the second imaging time occur when the thermal response between the first and second locations is sufficient to detect an artifact at one of the locations.