IR Works Better During The Rain?

[jd415]

This might be a stupid question and I might sound like an idiot but here it goes....

Is it just me or does surveillance footage look better at night when its raining compared to when its not? Does IR travel further in the rain?

 

[bigredfish]

Kind of a trade off. The wet surfaces reflect light better, but generally you’re losing star/moonlight.

 

[tigerwillow1]

For me, night images in the rain are close to useless when using the camera's IR. I use external IR on almost all of my cameras. These are Dahua cameras. Could it be different with some other camera?

 

[bigredfish]

Honestly missed the IR part LOL, I run my main cameras in color and light rain is reflective.

With IR, yeah any moderate to heavy rain using the camera IR is a mess.

 

[samplenhold]

Is it just me or does surveillance footage look better at night when its raining compared to when its not? Does IR travel further in the rain?

Please post shots/video where you get good IR video during the rain. I would love to see it. My two cams that use IR (cam IR) outside are more or less useless in a downpour.

Typical non-rain evening.


Nice downpour.

 

[jd415]

Here is a shot when it was raining and here is one without the rain. Same camera and settings.

 

[bigredfish]

Seems like a lot more background/ambient light in the brighter image? Look at the horizon above the rooftops.. lightning?
And yes under eaves protected its less of a problem.

For me in color there is a reflection factor

Light drizzle.

 

[biggen]

Scatter increases with rain which could help IR. But if rain drops actually come in contact with the lens and runs down it, then you get what @samplenhold depicted.

But, yeah reflection and scatter in a light right could be beneficial.

 

[bigredfish]

Also those shots are 3 months apart. The bush on the left in the darker image may be affecting your IR some.

 

[SecuritySeeker]

Also those shots are 3 months apart.

In winter it simply gets darker during the night than in spring/summer, if you're sufficiently far from the equator. Look at the sky in those pictures. The difference is probably just due to that. If you go far enough north the sun doesn't even go down anymore for several months. On the poles the sun stays visibile for 6 months.