Secrets of the sky at night

Thermal mapping service
The surveys can identify heat loss from roofs.
A thermal mapping service has been identifying houses that are not energy efficient and earmarking them for improvement.
Thermal sensors mounted on survey aircraft recorded heat loss from houses on cold, clear winter nights. Poorly-insulated properties were identified and matched to the correct address after which the information is processed to the production of targeted marketing material.
Thermal mapping company Bluesky has captured thousands of square kilometres of survey data across England on behalf of local authorities, social housing providers and even police forces who use the results to identify properties used as cannabis factories.
The thermal surveys will be captured by Bluesky using a ‘microbolometer’ thermal camera, a system designed specifically for airborne surveying and ideal for use in aircraft flying at night. Combined with an advanced navigation and positioning system and improved sensor control, the system allows measurements of heat loss from property roofs to be recorded with higher precision and more consistent results than other systems currently in use in the UK it is claimed.