Editing Forward-looking infrared (section)

{{Short description|Type of thermographic camera}}
{{redirect|FLIR|the company|FLIR Systems|the UFO video|Pentagon UFO videos}}
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[[File:NAVFLIR DAMOCLES P1220870.jpg|thumb|250px|A [[Thales Group|Thales]] [[Damocles (targeting pod)|Damocles]] FLIR targeting pod]]
'''Forward-looking infrared''' ('''FLIR''') cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a [[thermographic camera]] that senses [[infrared radiation]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cerdec.army.mil/inside_cerdec/nvesd/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004201753/http://www.cerdec.army.mil/inside_cerdec/nvesd/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-10-04 |title=Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate |publisher=US Army CERDEC |access-date=2014-04-24 }}</ref>

The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other thermal imaging cameras, use detection of infrared radiation, typically emitted from a [[heat]] source ([[thermal radiation]]), to create an image assembled for [[video]] output.

They can be used to help [[Aviator|pilots]] and drivers steer their vehicles at night and in fog, or to detect warm objects against a cooler background. The [[wavelength]] of infrared that thermal imaging cameras detect is 3 to 12&nbsp;[[micrometre|μm]] and differs significantly from that of [[night vision]], which operates in the visible light and [[near-infrared]] ranges (0.4 to 1.0 &nbsp;μm).