Infrared sensor modeling for realistic thermal image synthesis

To generate realistic synthetic IR images, image acquisition by IR sensors must be reproduced. In this paper, we propose an IR sensor model based on physical laws governing effects involved in the IR imagery formation process. Our approach consists in a combination and an extension of current camera models used in visible and infrared image synthesis, and thus merges ray tracing and post-processing techniques. Our model represents the geometric and radiometric relationship between the points in the 3D observed scene and the corresponding pixels of the IR sensor output image. It offers the capability of simulating each IR sensor component in accordance with any given system technology and to any desired degree of precision. Moreover, it can also account for variations in many physical quantities through spatial, spectral, and temporal dimensions