Abstract

Research during the last five years has revealed the potential of high-spectral-resolution remote sensing for direction identification of the earth’s surface materials. Technological developments in the area of infrared area array detectors, optics, and data systems have made it possible to build imaging spectrometer sensors that cover the wavelength region of reflected sunlight from 0.4 to 2.5 µm in 200 or more spectral bands simultaneously. An imaging spectrometry program being implemented at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory contains four sensor elements. Presently the Airborne Imaging Spectrometer acquires images in 128 bands simultaneously in the 1.2-2.4-µm wavelength region. In late 1986 the Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) will be completed. AVIRIS will cover an 11-km wide swath in 224 spectral bands. The Shuttle Imaging Spectrometer Experiment will acquire data on a global basis in 196 spectral bands over a 12-km swath. Finally, the High-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (HIRIS) is envisioned for the space platform expected to be launched in the mid-1990s. HIRIS would acquire data over a 50-km wide swath.

© 1985 Optical Society of America