ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a detailed introduction to hyperspectral satellites. It begins with the description of the principle of spectroscopy used in analytical laboratories to investigate material properties and describes how spectroscopy is combined with the modern imaging technology to emerge as a novel hyperspectral imaging technology for use in spaceborne remote sensing. A more precise definition of the term hyperspectral imaging is suggested to overcome the shortcoming of the current definition that was originally proposed over three decades ago. The author classifies hyperspectral imaging approaches into three categories: dispersive elements based, spectral filters based, and snapshot hyperspectral imagers. These approaches are discussed systematically with different kinds of hyperspectral sensors and applications. As the introduction chapter, it spends half of its text body to describe how hyperspectral imaging technology evolves from aircraft to spacecraft. The chapter describes the history of the development of hyperspectral imaging technology starting from the world's first airborne hyperspectral imager in the late 1970s, the development between 80's and 90's, early hyperspectral imager development in Canada, to the NASA's planned orbiting hyperspectral imager in 1990s. Finally, after the description of the difference between airborne and spaceborne hyperspectral imaging, two well-known airborne hyperspectral sensors, Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) and Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI), have been described in detail as representative examples.
