Mid-infrared remote sensing holds considerable promise for addressing a variety of terrain analysis objectives. Both terrain surface emissivity and temperature may be determined from remotely sensed data, thus problem in such fields as geology, soil science, forestry, mineral exploration, volcanology and environmental management as well as special military needs may be addressed. The spectral region between 8 and 14 µm is of particular importance because: 1) many rock and soil forming minerals exhibit diagnostic spectral features at these wavelengths, 2) terrain thermal emission is maximum at terrestrial temperatures, and 3) interference due to atmospheric absorption and emission is minimal. A currently underexploited, but also potentially useful, spectral region is that between 3 and 5 µm, where minerals often display overtones of their fundamental spectral bands. These bands can also provide information about surface composition and texture, and future systems may further the potential of remote terrain analysis by exploiting data in both regions.