Hyperspectral Panoramic Imaging

Abstract

Hyperspectral instruments are designed for the characterisation of planetary surfaces, oceans and the atmosphere. At the moment there are a number of aircraft systems and planned space missions. Examples for this are the hyperspectral missions for Earth remote sensing (EnMAP) and also for deep space and planetary missions (Mercury mission Bepi Colombo). There are basically two options for a hyperspectral system: Snapshot systems and scanning systems. This paper investigates a scanning hyperspectral push-broom system. In most systems the input aperture is a long slit whose image is dispersed across a 2-D detector array, so that all points along a line in the scene are sampled simultaneously. To fill out the spatial dimension orthogonal to the slit, the scene is scanned across the entrance aperture. An ideal low cost hyperspectral scanning device analogue to push broom scanner is a 2D-detector with variable spectral filters, each filter being arranged perpendicular to the direction of flight. The biggest challenge is the mapping of the images of the individual spectral channels to each other (co-registration). The solution of the problem is the prerequisite for the use of this kind of hyperspectral cameras e.g. on board of an aircraft. Therefore, an investigation should focus on the procedure of data acquisition, correction and registration. In addition, an example showing the advantages of a possible application is explained.