Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

Citation

(1998), "Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry", Sensor Review, Vol. 18 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/sr.1998.08718dae.002

Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

R. McCluneyArtech House1994402 pp.ISBN 0-89006-678-7£68.00

At the time of writing, the author was a principal research scientist at the Florida Solar Energy Center, working in the field of window illumination performance and the analysis and collection of solar energy. In this book he sets out to clear some of the confusion surrounding the terminology arising from the subjects of radiometry, broadly the objective study of effects due to electromagnetic radiation; and photometry, its subjective effects on the human eye. The book offers an insight into the fundamental concepts of both areas, the basics of the optical properties of materials, and some information on the uses of the radiometric and photometric quantities in various application areas.

The book offers a clear introduction to the principal subjects in the first two chapters, the author being at pains to set out a consistent set of terminology and units for both radiometry and photometry, then showing their linkage through a single equation. The material moves on to the theory behind blackbodies and other sources, and the calculation of flux transfer through the analytic solution of a number of particular geometric cases, and introduces an outline of the application of the Monte Carlo method. The following two chapters explain the optical properties of materials and the propagation of radiation through material media, working from idealised transparent media to lenses and absorbing and scattering media. A chapter is dedicated to the detection of radiation, outlining the most common technologies and covering material on noise and the means of analysing and minimising it. Optical systems are introduced via idealised thin lens theory, which is then added to with a good section on aberrations, and the introduction of a number of pieces of optical equipment. Radiometers and photometers themselves are covered in a separate chapter, and the final two chapters concentrate on further radiometric and photometric quantities and units, in addition to the basic concepts of colour science. An appendix outlines the principles behind the use of calculus in the derivations outlined in the text.

The author has positioned the book as a resource for all; as much a reference text for those working in radiometry and photometry, as a concise introduction, refresher course or a student coursebook. There is a presumption that the reader possesses a general knowledge of basic physics, including some understanding of electromagnetic propagation, in addition to some geometry and calculus, though much of the book's material can be approached from a very basic level. In addition to comprehensive references for each chapter, the author offers recommendations of specific references for further reading in particular fields. There are a number of worked examples throughout the text, and problems set at the end of chapters for the enthusiastic reader.

Paul Abbott