How to Measure Solar Absorptance: Tools, Techniques, and Applications
February 13, 2025
Learn how solar absorptance is measured, the instrumentation used, best practices, and applications.
Archive for the ‘Measurement Services’ Category
How to Measure Thermal Emissivity: Tools, Techniques, and Applications
February 3, 2025
Thermal emissivity is a fundamental property of materials that describes their ability to emit thermal radiation normalized to an ideal blackbody (i.e. 0-1 scale). This characteristic is crucial in applications ranging from aerospace thermal coatings to solar energy harvesting to environmentally friendly building materials, where understanding and controlling heat transfer can significantly impact safety, efficiency, […]
A New AI-Powered Method for Designing Infrared Metasurfaces
December 14, 2024
Metasurfaces are a revolutionary development in the world of optics. These are extremely sophisticated, customizable surfaces that have been tailored to reflect, absorb, or transmit light based on the designer’s needs. The complex structures on the material’s surface are of a sub-wavelength scale compared to the wavelength of interest. These structures act as “mini transmitters […]
Solar Reflectance & SRI Measurements for LEED
July 11, 2024
Building designers and developers that are pursuing the Heat island reduction credit for LEED certification require documentation of the Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) for their project’s roofing materials, shade giving structures, and paving materials. Under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED 2009 rating system, credits SSc7.1 and SSc7.2 (combined as credit SSc5 in LEED v4) […]
Optical Measurement of Z93 Thermal Coating on the International Space Station
September 23, 2020
Space-based construction materials must meet a range of requirements: mechanical robustness, lightweight characteristics, and tolerance to heat. There are three optical requirements for heat management to protect sensitive instrumentation and personnel: high solar reflectance, high thermal emissivity, and a sufficiently diffuse surface. These properties ensure that the spacecraft will remain cool, and the thermal control […]
The Prediction and Measurement of the Optical Properties of Complex Surfaces
June 13, 2018
Determining the optical properties of complex surfaces for signature analysis can be problematic. Materials with surface structures, e.g, crinkled or patterned foil appliques, or striated or ribbed surfaces will produce a non-isotropic BRDF, which can be difficult to measure and represent in signature models. This paper will describe an analytical approach to predicting the optical […]
Surface Optics Corporation Presents at the 13th International IR Target and Background Modeling & Simulation Workshop
Dr. James Jafolla, President of Surface Optics Corporation, presented today at the 13th International IR Target and Background Modeling & Simulation Workshop (ITBMS) convened in Banyuls-sur-mer, France. The ITBMS workshop is a forum for the IR modeling and simulation community to discuss current developments in their field of expertise. Dr. Jafolla’s presentation was titled, “The Prediction and Measurement of the Optical Properties of Complex Surfaces.”
Defense Technology Training: Infrared/Visible Signature Suppression
March 12, 2013
Dr. Jafolla will be participating as an instructor in the course “Infrared/Visible Signature Suppression” offered by the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA), Mar 19, 2013 (Tue) – Mar 22, 2013 (Fri).
SOC President, Dr. James Jafolla, to give lecture at Georgia Tech on signature control techniques and optical properties of materials
August 1, 2012
Dr. Jafolla will be participating as an instructor in the course “Infrared/Visible Signature Suppression” offered by the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA), Sept. 11-14, 2012. Course lectures will examine threat characteristics to derive signature vulnerabilities, suppression strategies, and priorities. Explore signature-generation mechanisms and modeling techniques, as well as special types of challenges posed by […]
Measurement and analysis of optical surface properties for input to ShipIR
April 22, 2009
The application of advanced low observable treatments to ground vehicles has led to a requirement for a better understanding of effects of light scattering from surfaces. Measurements of the Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) fully describe the angular scattering properties of materials, and these may be used in signature simulations to quantitatively characterize the optical […]