Imaging Spectroscopy

The terms imaging spectroscopy, imaging spectrometry, hyperspectral imaging, and, occasionally, ultraspectral imaging are often used interchangeably. Even though semantic differences might exist, a common definition for such terms is as follows: the simultaneous acquisition of spatially coregistered images, in many narrow, spectrally contiguous bands, measured in calibrated radiance units, from a remotely operated platform. A variety of imaging spectrometers exist for imaging spectroscopy applications. Imaging-spectrometer-collected data facilitate quantitative and qualitative characterization of both the surface and the atmosphere, using geometrically coherent spectral measurements. This result can then be used for the unambiguous direct and indirect identification of surface materials and atmospheric trace gases, the measurement of their relative concentrations, and subsequently the assignment of the proportional contribution of mixed pixel signals (e.g., spectral unmixing), the ...