A system to align a vehicle in a parking location includes a plurality of heat generating devices, such as infrared LEDs, arranged in a surface of the parking location to produce a distinctive thermal pattern. A multiple zone temperature sensor is mounted to view the heat generating devices and is configured to output thermal data for each of the zones. A controller is configured to receive the thermal data and determine a thermal map of the plurality of heat generating devices. A display provides a graphic indication of the thermal map and a thermal alignment target. The system may be used to align a vehicle having a capture resonator of a wireless power transfer system to a parking location having a source resonator of a wireless power transfer system.