Advancing Hyperspectral Signature Integration with Airborne and Ground-based Laser Technology

Research has shown that the combination of high range resolution Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) imagery and high spectral resolution (hyperspectral) imagery can significantly improve image classification accuracy in remote sensing. However until now, little effort has been made to produce an integrated remote sensing system which can simultaneously acquire this data. In cases where range/spectral data collection systems have been tried, it has been done by researchers who have simply co-located LIDAR and hyperspectral instruments on board the same aircraft. There is a need in the remote sensing community for an integrated spatial/spectral sensor solution. In Phase II of this effort SOC will develop, based on research done in Phase I of this SBIR on the requirements for an effective spatial/spectral system, an Airborne Terrain Mapping and Hyperspectral Imaging System (ATMHIS) whose main elements are a 120 band hyperspectral imager, an imaging LIDAR with high spatial resolution (sampling equivalent to that of the hyperspectral imager), and a Global Positioning/Inertial Navigation (GPS/INS) system to support accurate registration and mosaicing of the data. Through thoughtful design and integration, issues of registration and instrument calibration will be removed.