Exciting results on Emberion camera performance for fire and rescue applications. Seeing outside in a burning building and identifying sources of forest fire showcased in field tests.
Emberion team had a most successful field day at Finnish Emergency Services Academy [https://www.pelastusopisto.fi/en/] to test and showcase how Emberion cameras can make a difference in fire and rescue domain. The team tested several scenarios (i) seeing inside a building in fire to identify victims, (ii) identifying a ground fire from distance and (iii) seeing through smoke in building fires. The team used several Emberion cameras (Emberion VS17 & VS20) as well as a Sony IMX991 based InGaAs camera for comparison. Emberion VS20 offers a much wider spectral range with peak QE at 1850 nm and VS17 offers QE peak at 1550 nm.
Critical for indoor fires is to be able to see from outside in order to identify victims & other possible drivers for rescuers to enter the building. The case was tested by imaging through a glass window into a room with heavy flames and smoke generated by burning furniture. Seeing through glass is possible due to the SWIR transmission compared to thermal cameras (LWIR) which do not penetrate through glass. This is another major advantage of using SWIR wavelength.
Capabilities & Results Indoors
The results showcase brilliantly Emberion camera’s capabilities to see through smoke even when the flames are the only source of light. The other capability Emberion camera showcased was to see the details without saturating the scene by the flames. This is due to the very high dynamic range (120 dB) Emberion sensors built into cameras have. Also wavelengths above 1450 nm were shown as most effective way to penetrate the smoky conditions. When reviewing the images pay attention to the circled numbers on the wall as well as the other details visible in the images.
Emberion VS20 with LP1475 filter
InGaAs camera with Sony IMX991 sensor equipped with LP1450 filter
Recorded with a mobile phone
Forest & Ground Fires
The forest and ground fires are an issue where new solutions need to be identified. With Emberion camera one can see through the smoke and identify smoldering spots on forest ground. When comparing visible light images to images taken with Emberion camera one can see how easily visible the smoldering spots are on a simulated ground fire. When comparing to ordinary InGaAs SWIR camera one can see the number of details due to the high dynamic range Emberion camera has.
Emberion VS20 with LP1475 filter
InGaAs camera with Sony IMX991 sensor equipped with LP1450 filter
Recorded with a mobile phone
Seeing Through Smoke
Seeing through the outdoor smoke even when flames are not present is a key feature of Emberion SWIR cameras. This pair of pictures illustrates smoke see through capabilities at a building fire. With Emberion SWIR camera one can see significantly more in smoky environments compared to visible light and provided added advantage in SWIR due to the camera’s unique features.
Emberion VS20 with LP1475 filter
Recorded with a mobile phone
To summarize, Emberion cameras provide significant advantage over visible light cameras when operating in the fire and rescue domain. Also, the dynamic range offers clear advantage over conventional InGaAs SWIR cameras when flames or smoldering ground are being inspected by providing significantly more details. The team will also soon release videos showcasing these and further scenarios of the test day so stay tuned!
Note: the dynamic range visible on a screen is limited by screen technology.