Signature Management
A low-emissivity fabric does not get cooler. It reflects more of the background, and the sensor reports the mixture.
— °C
Temperature a thermal imager will report for the surface
Emissivity is treated as one grey number across the band, which real fabrics are not — suppression tuned for the 8–12 µm window can leave a fabric bright in 3–5 µm, and a solution that only works in one band is not a solution. The model also assumes a uniform background at a single temperature and a surface already at steady state; a suppressive layer raises the temperature underneath it, so the surface temperature to enter here is the one measured with the layer on, not without. This estimates a physical signature only and is not a statement about performance against any particular sensor or countermeasure.
Infrared Signature Suppression & Thermal Contrast Calculator — free, with the formula and a worked example, at Textile School.