ABSTRACT
The initial application of hyperspectral imaging was in remote sensing for observation of targets without physical contact. The invention of charged-coupled device (CCD) by G. Smith and W. Boyle in 1969 was an important factor in the progress of hyperspectral imaging technology (Gomez, 2002). Alexander Goetz and his colleagues at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology, developed the airborne imaging spectrometer (AIS) in the 1980s and then developed the Airborne Visible/ Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS). In 1987, AVIRIS was the first imaging spectrometer that measured the reflected solar spectrum ranging from 400 nm to 2500 nm with 10 nm intervals (Goetz, 1995). The success of this instrument resulted in the development of various sensors and data acquisition systems that introduced multispectral and hyperspectral imaging instruments for ground based and airborne remote sensing applications. Further improvements in the system resulted in the application of hyperspectral imaging in various fields including agriculture, geology, medical, pharmacy, and food.
