A system (10) to align a vehicle (12) in a parking location (14) includes a plurality of heat generating devices (20), such as infrared LEDs, arranged in a surface (18) of the parking location (14) to produce a distinctive thermal pattern. A multiple zone temperature sensor (22) is mounted to view the heat generating devices (20) and is configured to output thermal data for each of the zones. A controller (30) is configured to receive the thermal data and determine a thermal map (38) of the plurality of heat generating devices (20). A display (34) provides a graphic indication of the thermal map (38) and a thermal alignment target (40). The system (10) may be used to align a vehicle (12) having a capture resonator (24) of a wireless power transfer system to a parking location (14) having a source resonator (16) of a wireless power transfer system.