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Advances in the technology and production of thermal imaging cameras are putting their superiorities of precision and scope within the grasp, and the means, of a growing clientele of security professionals. In the view of Bill Klink, of Portland, Oregon-based FLIR Systems, the combination of high resolution, extended range, and economy offered by today’s thermal cameras indicates that they will increasingly displace low-light and illuminated infrared cameras for the demanding purposes of surveillance. “In a sense the thermal camera is an entirely new video device,” Klink told Homeland Security Daily Wire. “Given its accuracy and its range, it offers solutions to problems that no other imaging technology can provide.”

In the security sector, in which the need for solutions is acute and unremitting, the thermal camera is best known for its ability to detect the slightest movement and capture images of startling accuracy even in total darkness. Its value for long-range viewing in daylight is no less striking, particularly in poor weather conditions. “Smoke, haze, and even some fog and precipitation — to the person on the scene, all of these mean blurred vision,” said Klink. “But to the thermal camera they are particles of matter and it cuts right through them for a clear, long-distance view through the murk. The advantage over conventional cameras that are thwarted by atmospheric effects is obvious.”

This twenty-four-hour all-weather capability, together with its longer detection range, makes the thermal camera a strong candidate for inclusion in border surveillance systems. FLIR’s Commercial Vision Systems Division, located in Goleta, California, is furnishing cameras for the virtual fence being constructed by the U.S. government along the Mexico-Arizona border, under a revised plan for the project that will remedy deficiencies identified by the Government Accounting Office (GAO). The short, unhappy history of the first phase of this undertaking is instructive. Project 28, the prototype virtual fence designed by Boeing Co., was hobbled by delays and technical problems from the start. It was officially accepted by DHS secretary Michael Chertoff on 22 February; less than a week later, the GAO declared that the design “did not fully meet user needs” and would not be employed to support other technology planned for the project; on 24 April, DHS scrapped the prototype design altogether.

The GAO reported that the original thermal cameras procured by Boeing (not from FLIR Systems) could not detect targets at the distances stipulated by the DHS specification. This defect is