Systems and methods may apply global contrast correction to a plurality of thermal images. For example, a vehicle may capture a plurality of aerial thermal images for use in generating a composite image. Each individual thermal image may be individually contrasted based on the temperature range of pixels in that image, so the contrast range of the thermal images may vary. The plurality of thermal images may be analyzed to determine a global contrast range. Extreme temperatures may be excluded from the global contrast range. Based on the global contrast range, a contrast level of each of the plurality of thermal images may be adjusted. For example, the individual temperature range of each thermal image may be scaled to a global temperature range. A composite image having consistent contrasting may be generated from the plurality of thermal images.