Multi-spectral radiation thermometry of space point targets based on spectral image pixel binning

The temperature characteristics of space point targets are essential indicators of their operational status and performance. To address the issue of significant temperature measurement errors in space point targets caused by low temperatures and a low imaging signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), we propose a mathematical model for multi-spectral radiation thermometry, derived from the principles of dual-band radiation thermometry. Furthermore, a multi-spectral image pixel binning method is introduced to enhance the SNR and minimize measurement errors. The experimental results indicate that the proposed multi-spectral radiation thermometry outperforms dual-band radiation thermometry. After merging 2 to 20 pixels, multi-spectral radiation thermometry in the 3.75–4.1 and 4.3–4.62 µm bands demonstrates an enhanced SNR and reduced temperature measurement errors. For a 378.15 K blackbody, the relative errors decrease from 1.52% and 2.19% to 0.26% and 0.74%, respectively, after merging six and eight pixels in the two different bands, compared to unmerged images. This method provides a valuable reference for developing techniques to enhance the SNR and improve temperature measurement accuracy for space point targets.