ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Thermal infrared spectroscopy

Okay, so imagine you're standing outside and feeling the heat of the sun on your skin. You know that the sun's heat is made up of little tiny things called "photons." These photons are small particles of energy that are being sent out from the sun and hitting your skin.

Now, imagine that instead of feeling the heat on your skin, we can look at it with a special machine called a "spectrometer." The spectrometer can help us measure the different types of photons that are coming from the sun's heat.

Thermal infrared spectroscopy is basically like using a really fancy spectrometer to measure the heat (infrared radiation) being emitted from an object. This can help us understand what the object is made of and how it behaves.

The cool thing about thermal infrared spectroscopy is that it can be used in many different ways. It can help us understand the composition of rocks and minerals, monitor the temperature of oceans and land surfaces, and even detect gases in the atmosphere.

So, in summary, thermal infrared spectroscopy is a way of measuring the heat being emitted from an object using a special machine called a spectrometer. This can help us figure out what the object is made of and how it behaves.