Transition Zone Hyperspectral Sensors Suitable for Remote Piloted Vehicles

Tropical, temperate, and glaciated littoral zones differ widely in character and time variability. Their study and characterization requires high spatial resolution and repeated measurement which may be accomplished from remotely piloted, manned, or other atmospheric vehicles. MEDECO proposes the development of an aperture stabilized, miniature hyperspectral imaging interferometer sensitive between 400 and 2500 nm. The transition zone DASI or TZ-DASI, will be a new, high throughput variant of the digital array scanned interferometers MEDECO has previously used in RPAs and has the necessary characteristics for light aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft application, as well as in situ use. The sensor will provide superb hyperspectral imagery for the definition and characterization of the transition boundaries of land and water (littoral zone) scenes. The hyperspectral data from this sensor will be processed using calibration and signal extraction methods developed specifically under this effort for the TZ-DASI .