emissivity.org Thermal radiative properties of materials
About
About emissivity.org

Mission

Advancing the science and practice of thermal radiative property measurements through global collaboration.

Emissivity.org is the hub of an international network of research laboratories dedicated to the measurement, understanding, and application of thermal radiative properties — particularly spectral and directional emissivity. The site integrates open data, measurement methods, laboratory capabilities, and community activity into a single visible surface. It exists to make the field findable, connected, and alive — for active researchers, for newcomers, and for anyone who needs reliable spectral radiative-property data.

Our network brings together leading facilities in thermal radiation metrology, including national metrology institutes and university research groups across Europe and beyond.

Five activities

Everything on the site maps to five core activities:

  1. Measurement science — Connecting laboratory practice, standards, and good-practice guidance so that emissivity measurements are reproducible and comparable across institutions.
  2. Open data — Curating and publishing spectral emissivity data through EKHI, the open radiative-property database, with publication-traced provenance and curve-level downloads.
  3. Standards — Tracking ISO and ASTM standards relevant to emissivity and thermal radiation measurement, with community commentary and practical interpretation.
  4. Training — Through the IR-EMPOWER workshop series and collaborative research programs, supporting hands-on training, method notes, and educational resources that help researchers and engineers measure and use emissivity data correctly.
  5. Connection — Making laboratories, researchers, events, and new publications visible in one place, so the community can find each other and collaborate.

Origin

Emissivity.org was founded by the HAIRL / Thermomat group at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in Bilbao, Spain. The group’s long experience building FTIR-based emissometry systems, curating spectral datasets, and collaborating internationally motivated the creation of a shared platform for the field.

The network

The site documents the worldwide community through its research map: a curated, source-verified directory of 40 institutions in 14 countries — national metrology institutes, high-temperature and solar facilities, remote-sensing and spectral-library groups, spacecraft thermal-control laboratories, and the engineered-emissivity (thermal photonics) community. Inclusion follows a published methodology; every profile is traceable to public institutional sources.

Four operational pillars

Open by default

All EKHI data is published under CC-BY 4.0. Methods guides, standards commentary, and editorial content are freely accessible. The site does not gate any information behind registration or payment.

Publication-traced provenance

Every spectral curve in EKHI links back to a published source. Data without provenance does not enter the database. This ensures that users can always verify, cite, and contextualise any record they download.

Community-driven curation

Data submissions, insight proposals, and event announcements come from the community. The editorial team reviews for quality and consistency, but the content reflects the field’s own activity and priorities.

Visible activity

A field hub should show signs of life. Events, new data, insights, and community changes are surfaced on the homepage and across the site so that visitors see a living resource, not a static archive.

Contact

For questions about the site, data submissions, or network membership, write to info@emissivity.org.