Spectroradiometric pyrometry of shock-heated gases by infrared emission and absorption measurements.

A spectroradiometric pyrometer was developed to measure temperatures of shock-heated gases with time resolution of about 10 microsec. Gas temperatures in shock-heated CO(2)-N(2) mixtures and in self-sustaining detonations were determined by simultaneously measuring infrared spectral radiance and absorptance at selected wavelengths in CO(2) and H(2)O band spectra. By Kirchhoff's law, the ratio (radiance/absorptance) equals the Planck blackbody radiance, from which the temperature is easily found. The measured temperatures agreed with values calculated from the measured shock velocities.