Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Evaluation of Blackbody Cavity Emissivity in the Infrared Using Total Integrated Scatter Measurements

Published

Author(s)

Leonard M. Hanssen, Sergey Mekhontsev, Jinan Zeng, A Prokhorov

Abstract

Deviations from ideal blackbody (BB) behavior can be characterized by a BB s effective emissivity. The cavity emissivity is most often obtained through a model, given a particular set of input parameters associated with the BB cavity geometry and surface optical properties. It can also be measured directly (radiance) or indirectly (reflectance). We present a study of BB cavity emissivity using the reflectance method. We examine several types and designs of blackbody cavities, including those from fixed-point and water bath BBs, using our Infrared Total Integrated Scatter (ITIS) instrument for emissivity evaluation. The emissivity is characterized as a function of position on the output aperture as well as a function of output angle. The measurements have revealed emissivity values, both significantly greater than, as well as in confirmation of, modeling predictions. For instance, the emissivities of three fixed point BB cavity designs were found to vary significantly despite modeling predictions in the design process of similar behavior. Also, other BB cavities that exhibited poor emissivity performance were re-painted and re-machined, in one case more than once, before the predicted performance was achieved.
Citation
International Journal of Thermophysics
Volume
29
Issue
No. 1

Keywords

blackbody, cavity, emissivity, infrared, radiance temperature, reflectance

Citation

Hanssen, L. , Mekhontsev, S. , Zeng, J. and Prokhorov, A. (2008), Evaluation of Blackbody Cavity Emissivity in the Infrared Using Total Integrated Scatter Measurements, International Journal of Thermophysics, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=841107 (Accessed December 12, 2024)

Issues

If you have any questions about this publication or are having problems accessing it, please contact reflib@nist.gov.

Created February 1, 2008, Updated February 17, 2017