Abstract: To meet the great demand of realistic infrared images of target for simulation experiments, a realistic infrared target image generation method was proposed, which based on the combination of measured data and three-dimensional simulation. The surface radiation distribution of target was measured, which was used as input data to a retrieval model for target temperature distribution. Then the infrared textures of target were created using the retrieved temperature distribution, and mapped to a three-dimensional geometry model. The realistic infrared image was generated by 3D rendering technique. The experiments demonstrate that the generation method is good flexibility, and the infrared images are accurate in infrared feature, rich in texture detail and strong in practicality.