In 1980, development of the first imaging spectrometer for earth observation began at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. At that time neither the detectors, optics, electronics, nor computers for rapid analysis were readily available. Subsequent developments led to the implementation of the airborne imaging spectrometer (AIS) and the airborne visible/infrared imaging spectrometer (AVIRIS), the present-day workhorse for hyperspectral imaging. Plans for a shuttle instrument and the Earth observing system (EOS) high resolution imaging spectrometer (HIRIS) did not materialize. The newest major airborne imaging system is HYDICE, sponsored by the Naval Research Laboratory, and currently undergoing flight tests. Data analysis techniques and software to deal with 200 channel images has recently become available and it has made it feasible for researchers and application specialists, not directly involved with sensor development, to make sensible use of hyperspectral image data.

Date Published: 12 June 1995
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 2480, Imaging Spectrometry, (12 June 1995); doi: 10.1117/12.210867

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2480:
Imaging Spectrometry
Michael R. Descour; Jonathan Martin Mooney; David L. Perry; Luanna R. Illing, Editor(s)