• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2022

Recently interests on the application of thermal cameras have increased with the advance of image analysis technology. Aside from a simple image acquisition, applications such as digital twin and thermal image management systems have gained popularity. To this end, we studied the effect of emissivity on the DN (Digital Number) value in the process of derivation of a relational expression for converting DN to an actual surface temperature. The DN value is a number representing the spectral band value of the thermal image, and is an important element constituting the thermal image data. However, the DN value is not a temperature value indicating the actual surface temperature, but a brightness value indicating high and low heat as brightness, and has a non-linear relationship with the actual surface temperature. The reliable relationship between DN and the actual surface temperature is critical for a thermal image processing. We tested the relationship between the actual surface temperature and the DN value of the thermal image, and then the radiation adjustment was performed to better estimate actual surface temperatures. As a result, the relation graph between the actual surface temperature and the DN value similarly show linear pattern with the relation graph between the radiation-controlled non-contact thermometer and the DN value. And the non-contact temperature after adjusting the emissivity was closer to the actual surface temperature than before adjusting the emissivity.