Editing Pyrometer (section)

{{Short description|Type of thermometer sensing radiation}}
[[Image:Gluehfadenpyrometer.jpg|thumb|upright|An optical pyrometer]]
[[Image:Pyrometer 040824.jpg|thumb|upright|A sailor checking the temperature of a ventilation system]]

A '''pyrometer''', or '''radiation thermometer''', is a type of [[remote sensing]] [[thermometer]] used to measure the [[temperature]] of distant objects. Various forms of pyrometers have historically existed. In the modern usage, it is a device that from a distance determines the temperature of a surface from the amount of the [[thermal radiation]] it emits, a process known as '''''pyrometry''''', a type of ''[[radiometry]]''.

The word pyrometer comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word for fire, "πῦρ" (''pyr''), and ''meter'', meaning to measure. The word pyrometer was originally coined to denote a device capable of measuring the temperature of an object by its [[incandescence]], visible light emitted by a body which is at least red-hot.<ref>{{cite web |title=incandescence |url=http://www.dictionary.reference.com/browse/incandescence |website=Dictionary.com |publisher=Dictionary.com, LLC |access-date=2 January 2015}}</ref> [[Infrared thermometer]]s, can  also measure the temperature of cooler objects, down to room temperature, by detecting their infrared radiation flux. Modern pyrometers are available for a wide range of wavelengths and are generally called ''radiation thermometers''.<ref name="Coates2016">{{cite book | last1=Coates | first1=P. | last2=Lowe | first2=D. | title=The Fundamentals of Radiation Thermometers | publisher=CRC Press | year=2016 | page=1 | isbn=978-1-4987-7822-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzMNDgAAQBAJ | quote=Historically the term 'pyrometer' has been widely used. At the present time the term 'radiation thermometer' is more generally favoured.}} </ref>