Peace of mind at an affordable price

fully addressed by FLIR, now installing thermal cameras of a quality and strength to detect intruders at distances of seven miles or more — thereby meeting the program requirements and giving the government the detection, identification, and notification capability for which it is paying. The border-fence commission suggested a theme to which Klink would return a few times: the dual imperatives of detection and assessment in security applications like border surveillance. “In a straightforward video security environment, the thermal camera is used as the detection sensor,” Klink said. “In more elaborate multi-sensor systems, radar, acoustic, or vibrations sensors are used for detection, and the thermal camera for video verification of the alarm. “If you don’t know what you’ve caught in the sights, you can’t take responsible action. But in a border-breach situation there’s no time to be lost. Immediate evaluation is critical, even of something at a distance of five miles. Here’s where the high resolution of the thermal camera comes into its own.”

With a FLIR thermal camera there is no mistaking a deer for a man, or vice versa. The camera’s extremely high-resolution pictures and continuous zoom optics — which can display fractions of a degree in temperature difference, from miles away — bring the possibility of confusion near zero. Testing for ever-higher resolution with measurable and repeatable results is ongoing in the laboratory and in the field. While the technology here is advanced, in Klink’s view the market for thermal imaging cameras in border-surveillance applications is at an early stage. He foresees strong growth in demand for high-performance cameras for security purposes, especially in Europe as the expanding European Union pushes eastward. The Schengen open-borders agreement mandates open borders within the Schengen zone but tightly protected borders around the zone. In earlier times, good fences were said to make good neighbors. Today, a virtual trip-wire of tactful but unblinking thermal cameras can go far toward ensuring the same desirable effect.

Another challenge, as big as border surveillance, is the security requirement at sprawling complexes (airports, energy utilities, petrochemical plants, waterworks), with their miles of perimeter fence and strong attraction for persons bent on disruption or worse. Unobtrusive thermal imaging cameras - placed individually at precisely calibrated intervals around the property and at access points — can ring the enclosure with observation posts. Perfected for the military, thermal camera technology is now an affordable option for protection against security breaches