DISCUSSION OF BASIC QUESTIONS 



A separate discussion was conducted on each of the 10 basic questions. Such con- 

 clusions as could be agreed upon generally are given below. The stated conclusions re- 

 present the consensus of the Working Panel, usually unanimous. 



Question 1 . What instruments are available for infrared detection of sea surface 

 temperature from aircraft? 



A. The Barnes Engineering Co. "IT-S" family consisting of the IT-IS and IT-2S 

 already in operation and the IT-3S now in production. 



B. The Barnes Engineering Co. ART (14-320 model) which is the most sensitive 

 and expensive type. 



C. Various experimental designs, none of which are in production. 



D. Infrared scanner devices; experimental designs and not commercially avail- 

 able; custom-built models cost about $30,000. 



Question 2. What are the limits of instrument accuracy of presently available IRT 

 equipment ? 



A. Barnes Engineering Company claims the following for the IT-S family: 



1. Accuracy Upper limits are ± 2°F. at cold end of scale; somewhat better 

 at warmer end. 



2. Stability Related to ambient temperature and other environmental con- 

 ditions, but can be close as ± 0.5 °F. in fixed environment. 



3. Sensitivity ( or Resolution ) This depends upon the type of recorder, paper 

 size, etc., but ±0.25°F. should be attainable. 



The Naval Oceanographic Office claims ± 0.2°C. as the possible operating accuracy 

 of the Barnes 14-320 ART instrument. This approximates the stability of the calibration 

 water bath temperature, which is limiting. 



The new Fisheries Research Board of Canada design is expected to have a sensi- 

 tivity of ± 0.2°C. 



The consensus of those with experience in using IRT instruments in routine survey 

 work is that under favorable conditions ± 0.5°C. accuracy can be obtained by careful use of 

 the instrument with controlled environment and frequent calibration checks made in flight. 

 In any event, accuracy of 1.0°C. should be easy to obtain. It must be noted that this is only 

 in reference to microsurface temperatures and not bucket-depth temperature estimates 

 from IRT microsurface readings. 



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