Do thermal imagers see through smoke, dust, fog, blowing sand, rain and snow?
Because the infrared wavelength is longer than the visual light wavelength, thermal imagers can detect emitted energy through smoke, dust, fog, blowing sand, rain and snow. Visible light wavelengths bounce or are reflected of the obscurant particles due to the wavelength being short. The long wavelength of the infrared spectrum can pass through obscurants allowing a thermal imager to detect the emitted energy.
