Emissivity Table

for Long Wavelength Infrared Pyrometers and Thermal Cameras

The following table provides recommended emissivity values for a variety of materials under specific surface and temperature conditions for conventional LT infrared sensing pyrometers and thermal cameras. These values are intended as practical reference points.

Please note that emissivity depends strongly on factors such as surface finish, oxidation state, wavelength, and measurement geometry. The values listed should therefore be regarded as recommendations only. For critical applications, we advise verifying emissivity experimentally under the actual measurement conditions.

Material	Condition	Temperature [°C]	Emissivity	Source
Aluminum	anodized sheet	100	0,55	2
Aluminum	anodized, black, dull	70	0,95	6
Aluminum	anodized, light gray, dull	70	0,97	6
Aluminum	as received, plate	100	0,09	4
Aluminum	as received, sheet	100	0,09	2
Aluminum	cast, blast cleaned	70	0,46	6
Aluminum	dipped in HNO3, plate	100	0,05	4
Aluminum	foil	27	0,04	3
Aluminum	oxidized, strongly	50 … 500	0,2 … 0,3	1
Aluminum	polished	50 … 100	0,04 … 0,06	1
Aluminum	polished plate	100	0,05	4
Aluminum	polished, sheet	100	0,05	2
Aluminum	rough surface	20 … 50	0,06 … 0,07	1
Aluminum	roughened	27	0,18	3
Aluminum	sheet, 4 samples differently scratched	70	0,03 … 0,06	6
Aluminum	vacuum deposited	20	0,04	2
Aluminum bronze		20	0,6	1
Aluminum hydroxide	powder		0,28	1
Aluminum oxide	activated, powder		0,46	1
Aluminum oxide	pure, powder (alumina)		0,16	1
Asbestos	board	20	0,96	1
Asbestos	fabric		0,78	1
Asbestos	paper	40 … 400	0,93 … 0,95	1
Asbestos	powder		0,40 … 0,60	1
Asbestos	slate	20	0,96	1
Asphalt	paving	4	0,967	1
Brass	dull, tarnished	20 … 350	0,22	1
Brass	oxidized	100	0,61	1
Brass	oxidized	70	0,03 … 0,07	6
Brass	oxidized at 600Â°C	200 … 600	0,59 … 0,61	1
Brass	polished	200	0,03	1
Brass	polished, highly	100	0,03	2
Brass	rubbed with 80-grit emery	20	0,22	1
Brass	sheet, rolled	20	0,06	1
Brass	sheet, worked with emery	20	0,22	1
Brick	Dinas silica, glazed, rough	1100	0,65	1
Brick	Dinas silica, refractory	1000	0,66	1
Brick	Dinas silica, unglazed, rough		0,8	1
Brick	fireclay	1000	0,73	1
Brick	fireclay	1200	0,59	1
Brick	fireclay	200	0,51	1
Brick	masonry, plastered	20	0,94	1
Brick	red, common	20	0,93	1
Brick	red, rough	20	0,88 … 0,93	1
Brick	refractory, corundum	1000	0,46	1
Brick	refractory, magnesite	1000 … 1300	0,38	1
Brick	refractory, strongly radiating	500 … 1000	0,8 … 0,9	1
Brick	refractory, weakly radiating	500 … 1000	0,65 … 0,75	1
Brick	silica, 95% SiO2	1230	0,66	1
Brick	sillimanite, 33% SiO2, 64% Al2O3	1500	0,29	1
Bronze	phosphor bronze	70	0,06	6
Bronze	polished	50	0,1	1
Bronze	porous, rough	50 … 150	0,55	1
Bronze	powder		0,76 … 0,80	1
Carbon	candle soot	20	0,95	2
Carbon	charcoal powder		0,96	1
Carbon	graphite powder		0,97	1
Carbon	graphite, filed surface	20	0,98	2
Carbon	lamplack	20 … 400	0,95 … 0,97	1
Chromium	polished	50	0,1	1
Chromium	polished	500 … 1000	0,28 … 0,38	1
Clay	fired	70	0,91	1
Cloth	black	20	0,98	1
Concrete		20	0,97	2
Concrete	walkway	5	0,974	5
Copper	commercial, burnished	20	0,07	1
Copper	electrolytic, carefully polished	80	0,018	1
Copper	electrolytic, polished	-34	0,006	4
Copper	molten	1100 … 1300	0,13 … 0,15	1
Copper	oxidized	50	0,6 … 0,7	1
Copper	oxidized to blackness		0,88	1
Copper	oxidized, black	27	0,78	4
Copper	oxidized, heavily	20	0,78	2
Copper	polished	50 … 100	0,02	1
Copper	polished	100	0,03	2
Copper	polished, commercial	27	0,03	4
Copper	polished, mechanical	22	0,015	4
Copper	pure, carefully prepared surface	22	0,008	4
Copper	scraped	27	0,07	4
Copper dioxide	powder		0,84	1
Copper oxide	red, powder		0,7	1
Ebonite			0,89	1
Emery	coarse	80	0,85	1
Enamel		20	0,91	1
Enamel	lacquer	20	0,85 … 0,95	1
Fiber board	hard, untreated	20	0,81	1
Fiber board	masonite	70	0,85	6
Gold	polished	130	0,018	1
Gold	polished, carefully	200 … 600	0,02 … 0,03	1
Gold	polished, highly	100	0,03	2
Granite	polished	20	0,849	5
Granite	rough	21	0,879	5
Granite	rough, 4 different samples	70	0,77 … 0,87	6
Gypsum		20	0,8 … 0,9	1
Iron and steel	cold rolled	70	0,09	6
Iron and steel	covered with red rust	20	0,61 … 0,85	1
Iron and steel	electrolytic	100	0,05	4
Iron and steel	electrolytic	22	0,05	4
Iron and steel	electrolytic	260	0,07	4
Iron and steel	electrolytic, carefully polished	175 … 225	0,05 … 0,06	1
Iron and steel	freshly worked with emery	20	0,24	1
Iron and steel	ground sheet	950 … 1100	0,55 … 0,61	1
Iron and steel	heavily rusted sheet	20	0,69	4
Iron and steel	hot rolled	130	0,6	1
Iron and steel	hot rolled	20	0,77	1
Iron and steel	oxidized	100	0,74	4
Iron and steel	oxidized	100	0,74	1
Iron and steel	oxidized	1227	0,89	4
Iron and steel	oxidized	125 … 525	0,78 … 0,82	1
Iron and steel	oxidized	200	0,79	1
Iron and steel	oxidized	200 … 600	0,88	2
Iron and steel	oxidized strongly	50	0,88	1
Iron and steel	oxidized strongly	50	0,98	1
Iron and steel	polished	100	0,07	1
Iron and steel	polished	400 … 1000	0,14 … 0,38	1
Iron and steel	polished sheet	750 … 1050	0,32 … 0,56	1
Iron and steel	rolled sheet	50	0,56	1
Iron and steel	rolled, freshly	20	0,24	1
Iron and steel	rough, plane surface	50	0,95 … 0,98	1
Iron and steel	rusted red, sheet	22	0,69	4
Iron and steel	rusty, red	20	0,69	1
Iron and steel	shiny oxide layer, sheet	20	0,82	4
Iron and steel	shiny, etched	150	0,16	1
Iron and steel	wrought, carefully polished	40 … 250	0,28	1
Iron galvanized	heavily oxidized	70	0,85	6
Iron galvanized	sheet	92	0,37	1
Iron galvanized	sheet, burnished	30	0,23	1
Iron tinned	sheet	24	0,064	4
Iron, cast	casting	50	0,53	1
Iron, cast	ingots	100	0,95	1
Iron, cast	liquid	1330	0,3	1
Iron, cast	oxidized	800 … 1000	0,62 … 0,70	1
Iron, cast	oxidized	100	0,64	4
Iron, cast	oxidized	260	0,66	4
Iron, cast	oxidized	38	0,63	4
Iron, cast	oxidized	538	0,76	4
Iron, cast	oxidized at 600Â°C	200 … 600	0,64 … 0,78	1
Iron, cast	polished	200	0,21	4
Iron, cast	polished	38	0,21	4
Iron, cast	polished	40	0,21	4
Iron, cast	unworked	900 … 1100	0,87 … 0,95	1
Lacquer	3 colors sprayed on Aluminum	70	0,92 … 0,94	6
Lacquer	Aluminum on rough surface	20	0,4	1
Lacquer	bakelite		0,83	1
Lacquer	black, dull	40 … 100	0,96 … 0,98	1
Lacquer	black, matte	100	0,97	2
Lacquer	black, shiny, sprayed on iron	20	0,87	1
Lacquer	heat-resistant	100	0,92	1
Lacquer	white	100	0,91 … 0,95	1
Lacquer	white	100	0,94	2
Lead	oxidized at 200Â°C	100	0,28	4
Lead	oxidized, gray	22	0,68	3
Lead	oxidized, gray	22	0,28	3
Lead	shiny	250	0,05	1
Lead	unoxidized, polished	100	0,05	4
Lead red		100	0,93	4
Lead red, powder		100	0,93	4
Leather	tanned		0,75 … 0,80	1
Lime			0,3 … 0,4	1
Magnesium		22	0,07	4
Magnesium		260	0,13	4
Magnesium		538	0,18	4
Magnesium	polished	20	0,07	2
Magnesium	powder		0,86	1
Molybdenum		1500 … 2200	0,19 … 0,26	1
Molybdenum		600 … 1000	0,08 … 0,13	1
Molybdenum	filament	700 … 2500	0,1 … 0,3	1
Nichrome	rolled	700	0,25	1
Nichrome	sandblasted	700	0,7	1
Nichrome	wire, clean	50	0,65	1
Nichrome	wire, clean	500 … 1000	0,71 … 0,79	1
Nichrome	wire, oxidized	50 … 500	0,95 … 0,98	1
Nickel	bright matte	122	0,041	4
Nickel	commercially pure, polished	100	0,045	1
Nickel	commercially pure, polished	200 … 400	0,07 … 0,09	1
Nickel	electrolytic	22	0,04	4
Nickel	electrolytic	260	0,07	4
Nickel	electrolytic	38	0,06	4
Nickel	electrolytic	538	0,1	4
Nickel	electroplated on iron, polished	22	0,045	4
Nickel	electroplated on iron, unpolished	20	0,11 … 0,40	1
Nickel	electroplated on iron, unpolished	22	0,11	4
Nickel	electroplated, polished	20	0,05	2
Nickel	oxidized	1227	0,85	4
Nickel	oxidized	200	0,37	2
Nickel	oxidized	227	0,37	4
Nickel	oxidized at 600Â°C	200 … 600	0,37 … 0,48	1
Nickel	polished	122	0,045	4
Nickel	wire	200 … 1000	0,1 … 0,2	1
Nickel oxide		1000 … 1250	0,75 … 0,86	1
Nickel oxide		500 … 650	0,52 … 0,59	1
Oil, lubricating	0.025 mm film	20	0,27	2
Oil, lubricating	0.050 mm film	20	0,46	2
Oil, lubricating	0.125 mm film	20	0,72	2
Oil, lubricating	film on Ni base: Ni base only	20	0,75	2
Oil, lubricating	thick coating	20	0,82	2
Paint	8 different colors and qualities	70	0,92 … 0,94	6
Paint	Aluminum, various ages	50 … 100	0,27 … 0,33	1
Paint	cadmium yellow		0,28 … 0,33	1
Paint	chrome green		0,65 … 0,70	1
Paint	cobalt blue		0,70 … 0,80	1
Paint	oil	100	0,94	2
Paint	oil based, average of 16 colors		0,94	1
Paint	4 different colors	70	0,92 … 0,94	6
Paper	black	20	0,94	1
Paper	black, dull	20	0,94	1
Paper	black, dull	70	0,89	6
Paper	blue, dark	20	0,84	1
Paper	coated with black lacquer		0,93	1
Paper	green		0,85	1
Paper	red		0,76	1
Paper	white	20	0,70 … 0,9	1
Paper	white bond	20	0,93	1
Paper	white, 3 different glosses	70	0,88 … 0,90	6
Paper	yellow		0,72	1
Plaster	rough coat	20	0,91	2
Plastic	glass fibre laminate (printed circ. board)	70	0,91	6
Plastic	polyurethane isolation board	70	0,55	6
Plastic	PVC, plastic floor, dull, structured	70	0,93	6
Platinum		100	0,05	4
Platinum		1000 … 1500	0,14 … 0,18	1
Platinum		1094	0,18	4
Platinum		17	0,016	4
Platinum		22	0,03	4
Platinum		260	0,06	4
Platinum		538	0,1	4
Platinum	pure, polished	200 … 600	0,05 … 0,10	1
Platinum	ribbon	900 … 1100	0,12 … 0,17	1
Platinum	wire	1400	0,18	1
Platinum	wire	500 … 1000	0,10 … 0,16	1
Platinum	wire	50 … 200	0,06 … 0,07	1
Porcelain	glazed	20	0,92	2
Porcelain	white, shiny		0,70 … 0,75	1
Rubber	hard	20	0,95	1
Rubber	soft, gray, rough	20	0,91	1
Sand			0,6	2
Sand		20	0,9	2
Sandstone	polished	19	0,909	5
Sandstone	rough	19	0,93	5
Silver	polished	100	0,035	2
Silver	pure, polished	200 … 600	0,02 … 0,03	1
Skin	human	32	0,98	2
Slag	boiler	0 … 100	0,97	1
Slag	boiler	1400 … 1800	0,69 … 0,67	1
Slag	boiler	200 … 500	0,88 … 0,78	1
Slag	boiler	600 … 1200	0,76 … 0,70	1
Soil	dry	20	0,92	2
Soil	saturated with water	20	0,95	2
Stainless steel	alloy, 8% Ni, 18% Cr	500	0,35	1
Stainless steel	rolled	700	0,45	1
Stainless steel	sandblasted	700	0,7	1
Stainless steel	sheet, polished	70	0,14	6
Stainless steel	sheet, untreated, somewhat scratched	70	0,28	6
Stainless steel	type 18-8, buffed	20	0,16	2
Stainless steel	type 18-8, oxidized at 800Â°C	60	0,85	2
Stucco	rough, lime	10 … 90	0,91	1
Tar		20	0,79 … 0,84	1
Tin	burnished	20 … 50	0,04 … 0,06	1
Tin	tin-plated sheet iron	100	0,07	2
Titanium	oxidized at 540Â°C	1000	0,6	1
Titanium	oxidized at 540Â°C	500	0,5	1
Titanium	oxidized at 540Â°C	200	0,35	1
Titanium	polished	1000	0,3	1
Titanium	polished	200	0,15	1
Titanium	polished	500	0,2	1
Tungsten		1500 … 2200	0,24 … 0,31	1
Tungsten		20	0,05	1
Tungsten		600 … 1000	0,1 … 0,16	1
Tungsten	filament	3300	0,39	1
Varnish	on oak parquet floor	70	0,90 … 0,93	6
Water	distilled	20	0,96	2
Water	frost crystals	-10	0,98	2
Water	ice, covered with heavy frost	0	0,98	1
Water	ice, smooth	0	0,97	1
Water	ice, smooth	-10	0,96	2

Source:

Mikaél A. Bramson: Infrared Radiation, A Handbook for Applications, Plenum press, N.Y
William L. Wolfe, George J. Zissis: The Infrared Handbook, Office of Naval Research, Department of Navy, Washington, D.C.
Madding, R. P.: Thermographic Instruments and systems. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin – Extension, Department of Engineering and Applied Science.
William L. Wolfe: Handbook of Military Infrared Technology, Office of Naval Research, Department of Navy, Washington, D.C.
Kern: Evaluation of infrared emission of clouds and ground as measured by weather satellites, Defence Documentation Center, AD 617 417.
Öhman, Claes: Emittansmätningar med AGEMA E-Box. Teknisk rapport, AGEMA 1999. (Emittance measurements using AGEMA E-Box. Technical report, AGEMA 1999.) 10 – FLIR Systems, Inc., “FLIR AX Series User’s Manual,” Publ. No. T559913, r.18978/18978, en-US, Wilsonville, OR, USA: FLIR Systems, Inc., Oct. 27, 2014.

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