Infrared Thermal Imaging System for High Precision Field Thermography Research

我们的研究项目调查影响热生物学的压力源和环境因素，重点关注鸟类。这项研究把我们带到了世界不同的地方，从事环境和进化热生物学的发现研究。尽管鸟类可能采用不同的体温调节机制，但大多数鸟类都试图通过改变外周血流量或表现出蒸发冷却来保持合理的恒定体温。研究来自外周的热量传递控制，揭示了大脑如何试图平衡热量产生和热量损失，从而使我们能够检查潜在的温度调节控制。我们研究项目的最终目标是了解动物用来应对环境变化的策略，并根据它们的热生物学对物种如何应对气候变化做出基于证据的预测。鉴于我们采用的比较生物学方法，PI的实验室已成为热生理学、生态生理学和新科学发现交叉领域的世界领先者。本申请的申请人团队在鸟类生态学和生态生理学方面具有很强的专业知识，特别关注温带和北极物种。本提案是购买一台MWIRT （Mid Wave Infrared Thermal）成像相机（目前型号功能不全，无法满足当前需求，公司不再维修）、镜头、视频采集软件、计算组件，这些都是我们急需进行研究的。这些仪器共同构成了一个集成的红外热像仪（IRT）系统，该系统将最好地解决我们研究计划的总体目标，并允许学生及时完成项目。在过去的6年里，178名高素质人员（HQP）在我们的实验室和现场接受了培训，所要求的设备是热生物学中当前和未来HQP科学问题的基础。在PI实验室工作和访问的HQP数量的增长对我们的旧IRT提出了很大的要求，以至于它需要维修，不再可用，不适合现场用途。提出的红外热成像系统将通过扩大研究应用范围来丰富我们的研究成果，使我们能够光学地捕获呼吸气体，从而利用红外热成像进行生理测量，并使图像采集和分析更有效，从而使HQP能够更有效地访问设备。MWIRT系统对于Tattersall的研究项目、申请人团队的现场热成像应用以及HQP项目的及时完成至关重要。

Our research programs investigate the stressors and environmental contributors that influence thermal biology, with a strong focus on birds. This research has taken us to different parts of the world to engage in discovery research on environmental and evolutionary thermal biology. Although birds may employ different thermoregulatory mechanisms, most attempt to maintain a reasonably constant body temperature, and do so by altering peripheral blood flow or exhibiting evaporative cooling. Studying the control of heat transfer from the periphery sheds light on how the brain attempts to balance heat production and heat loss, and thus allows us to examine underlying thermoregulatory control. The ultimate goal of our research programs is to understand the strategies that animals use to cope with environmental changes and to make evidence-based predictions about how species will respond to climate change based on their thermal biology. Given the comparative biological approach we take, the PI's laboratory has become a world leader in the intersection of thermal physiology, ecophysiology, and novel scientific discoveries. The team of applicants on this application have strong expertise in avian ecology and ecophysiology, with a particular focus on temperate and arctic species. This proposal is for the purchase of a Mid Wave Infrared Thermal (MWIRT) imaging camera (the current model is not fully functional, unable to meet present needs, and no longer being repaired by the company), lenses, video acquisition software, and computational components, which are urgently required to proceed with our research. Together, these instruments form an integrated Infrared Thermographic (IRT) system which will best address the overarching goals of our research program and allow student projects to be completed in a timely manner. Over the past 6 years, 178 highly qualified personnel (HQP) were trained in our laboratories and in the field, and the equipment requested is foundational to the scientific questions of current and future HQP in thermal biology. The growth in the number of HQP working in and visiting the PI's lab has placed great demands on our older IRT, to the point that it is need of repair and no longer serviceable and is not suited for field purposes. The proposed IRT system will enrich our research findings by expanding the range of research applications, allow us to capture respiratory gases optically allowing for physiological measurements with IRT, and make image acquisition and analysis more efficient, allowing for greater access to the equipment by HQP. The MWIRT system is essential for Tattersall's research program, for the field thermography applications of the team of applicants, and for the timely completion of HQP projects.