New publication comparing the accuracy of the DJI XT, XT2 and M2EA UAV thermal cameras.

Leblanc G., Kalacska M., Arroyo-Mora J.P., Lucanus O., Todd A. 2021. A Practical Validation of Uncooled Thermal Imagers for Small RPAS. Drones 5(4):132

Imagery of a variable temperature blackbody showed that each camera has a highly linearized response (R² > 0.99) in the temperature range 5–40 °C as well as a small (< 2 °C) temperature bias. In-field results from imagery at five heights between 10 m and 50 m show absolute temperature retrievals of concrete and vegetation targets were within the specifications of the cameras.

Here is an example of our work with NRC using thermal drones to determine the energy lost from in-ground heating and then relating that to an amount of equivalent GHG's released as a result of the heat lost from inefficient systems. ⁠This thermal image of a heating plant and the bright linear feature with the square elbow is the in-ground heating pipe - located 1 m below the surface! After analysis, this system seems to annually loose the energy equivalent of ~1000 average Canadian homes and directly relates to ~5000 tons of GHG's produced annually as a result of the lost heat alone. From work like this we can determine the most impactful way of reducing GHG's from federal sites.