Re: Is it possible to 'see' a thermal? (clouds, meterology)

First, one must define "see".  I would define it as the interpretation of 
the pattern of "visible" light rays emanating from the phenomenon or the 
effects of the phenomenon.  In this sense, we do "see" thermals by 
interpreting the patterns of light coming from the effects of them, such as 
clouds, refraction of light, uplifting of debris, etc.  This is not 
inconsistant with "seeing" an image in a mirror, which is not where it 
seems to be or "seeing" a shadow, which is the absence of reflected light. 
We "see" a tornado, but realize that it is simply water and debris rotating 
in a spiral.

We could detect the heat by measuring temperature gradients in and around 
the thermal with Infrared detectors or temperature probes.  

Hope this helps,
I jumped in on this when I first saw this.
Les