MULTISPECTRAL REMOTE SENSING USING SPRITE TECHNOLOGY

FOR CONTINUOUS SPATIAL AND SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF OPTICAL RADIATION, A NEW CONCEPT FOR A SPECTROMETER THAT PERFORMS INEITHER A SERIAL-SCAN (PUSHBROOM) OR A STARING MODE TO DETECTINFRARED RADIATION WILL BE EVALUATED. IT APPLIES A NEW DETECTOR DEVICE KNOWN AS A SPRITE (SINGAL PROCESSING IN THE ELEMENT), WHICH OFFERS INCREASED INTEGRATION TIME, INCREASEDRESOLUTION, AND REDUCED ELECTRONIC PROCESSING OVER CURRENT AREA-ARRAY SPECTROMETER CONCEPTS. DEVELOPED FOR THERMAL IMAGING AT 8 TO 12 MICRONS, SPRITE CURRENTLY USES MERCURY- CADMIUM-TELLURIDE PHOTOCONDUCTIVE MATERIAL. OPTICAL COMPOUNDING OF HGCDTE AND ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS FOR IMPLEMENTING SPRITE TECHNOLOGY MAY ALLOW COVERAGE OF THE SPECTRAL REGIME FROM 1.1 TO 1.4 MICRONS. PHASE I WILL ANALYZE THE ESSENTIAL SOLID-STATE PHYSICS OF THE SPRITE DETECTOR, EXPLORE ALTERNATIVE SPRITE MATERIALS AND SPECTRAL BANDS, DEVELOP DESIGN CONCEPTS FOR A STARING AND SCANNING SPECTROMETER, AND PREDICT MAJOR PERFORMANCE CHARACHERISTICS SUCH AS BANDWIDTH SIGNAL TO NOISE, RESOLUTION AND READOUT RATES. THIS CONCEPT WOULD APPLY TO AN AIRBORNE OR SATELLITE-BORNE PUSHBROOM OPTICAL SENSOR AND IN A VARIETY OF PASSIVE AND ACTIVE OPTICAL SENSING APPLICATIONS INCLUDING IN-SITU PROCESS MONITORING OF INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL VAPOR PROCESSES.