User:Sasuke Sarutobi/Multi-spectral camouflage

The below article consitutes a personal draft version of Multi-spectral camouflage, which shall be integrated and updated in the main namespace upon reaching a sufficient stage of completion.

German Marder 1A5 with 'Barracuda' mobile multi-spectral camouflage

Multi-spectral camouflage is the use of techniques to conceal an object from detection by methods across several parts of the electromagnetic spectrum at once; while traditional camouflage attempts to hide an object in the visible spectrum, multi-spectral camouflage uses technologies that extend traditional camouflage techniques of crypsis (concealment) and mimicry (pretending to be something else) beyond the visible spectrum to hide the same object from detection methods in other electromagnetic ranges such as infrared, radar, and thermal imaging.

Imaging spectra

Light comparison
Name	Wavelength	Frequency (Hz)	Photon Energy (eV)
Gamma ray	less than 0.01 nm	more than 10 EHz	124 keV – 300+ GeV
X-Ray	0.01 nm to 10 nm	30 EHz – 30 PHz	124 eV to 124 keV
Ultraviolet	10 nm – 380 nm	30 PHz – 790 THz	3.3 eV to 124 eV
Visible	380 nm – 700 nm	790 THz – 430 THz	1.7 eV – 3.3 eV
Infrared	700 nm – 1 mm	430 THz – 300 GHz	1.24 meV – 1.7 eV
Microwave	1 mm – 1 meter	300 GHz – 300 MHz	1.24 µeV – 1.24 meV
Radio	1 mm – 100,000 km	300 GHz – 3 Hz	12.4 feV – 1.24 meV

(( Table included from Infrared article ))

Modern techniques of military surveillance and detection encompass a number of different ranges of

Visible

Main article: Military camouflage

Ship camouflage was occasionally used in ancient times. Vegetius wrote in the 4th century that "Venetian blue" (bluish-green, like the sea) was used for camouflage in the years 56–54 BC during the Gallic Wars, when Julius Caesar sent his scout ships to gather intelligence along the coast of Britain. The bluish-green scout ships carried sailors and marines dressed in the same colour.

Infrared and near-infrared

Main articles: Infrared, Night vision, and Thermography

Infrared radiation has a longer wavelength than visible light, and includes most of the thermal radiation emitted by objects near room temperature. Devices working in this range include night-vision devices that amplify low quantities of ambient lighting in the near-infrared and short infrared ranges to produce an image, and heat-sensing devices that compare the heat radiating from an object against background radiation to produce a false-colour image of an object even in conditions where there is no ambient light.

Radar

Main article: Radar

Radar uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio waves or microwaves which bounce off any object in their path, returning a tiny part of the wave's energy to a dish or antenna which is usually located at the same site as the transmitter. The radar cross-section

Applications

See also: Stealth technology

Multi-spectral camouflage can be applied to individuals in the form of a ghillie suit, disguising the heat given off by the wearer's body, and to vehicles and buildings with either specialised paints or camouflage nets that reduce the amount of heat given off by a object, as well as altering the shape and size of its radar signature.

See also

• Military camouflage
• Stealth technology
• Multispectral image
• Electro-optical MASINT