A solution of the inverse heat conduction problem (IHCP) by the steepest descent method is carried out in order to determine the waste heat flux from a helicon plasma discharge using transient surface temperature measurements obtained from infrared thermography. The infrared camera data is calibrated against thermocouple data and mapped to real locations on the observed surface. The magnitude and distribution of the heat flux to the gas containment tube in the helicon is investigated as the applied power, gas flow rate, magnetic field distribution and neutral gas are varied. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.