Remote Sensing

Hyperspectral Imagery
April 1st, 2004
Stefan A. Robila
robilas@mail.montclair.edu
www.csam.montclair.edu/~robila/RSL/
Source: http://nis-www.lanl.gov/~borel/
 Hyperspectral Remote Sensing
a remote sensing technology
seeing characteristics not recognized by the human eye

Increasing Wavelength (in meters)

10 -11 10 -8 10 -6 10
Gamma Rays Ultraviolet Infrared Radio

X-Rays Visible Microwaves

10 -9 10 -7 10 -2
Electromagnetic Spectrum
 Hyperspectral Remote Sensing

Non-Imaging Instruments
(example: FieldSpec Hand Held Spectroradiometer)
sensor obtains data (amount of light per wavelength)
computer software displays recorded spectrum
analyze spectral signature
 Imaging systems

Scanning radiometers
Passive system
Produces digital images
 Imaging systems

Scanning radiometers
Mirror scans across-track (swath)
 Imaging Systems

Scanning radiometers
2-D image formed by platform
forward motion
 CCD

CCD arrays
Passive system
Line or block of CCDs instead
of scanning mirror
Senses entire swath (or block)
simultaneously
 Hyperspectral Remote Sensing

Multispectral Many spectra (bands)

Hyperspectral Huge numbers of continuous bands

Hyperspectral remote sensing provides a continuous,

essentially complete record of spectral responses of materials
over the wavelengths considered.
 Hyperspectral Platforms

First hyperspectral scanners:

1982: AIS (Airborne Imaging Spectrometer)
1987: AVIRIS (Airborne Visible/infrared Imaging
Spectrometer)
1995: Hyperspectral Digital Imagery Collection
Experiment (HYDICE)
2000: Hyperion (EO-1)
AVIRIS
 AVIRIS Specifications
224 individual CCD (charge coupled device) detectors

Spectral resolution of 10 nanometers

Spatial resolution of 20 meters (at typical flight altitude)

Flight platform: NASA ER-2 (modified U-2)

Flight altitude: from 20,000 to 60,000, but usually flown at 60,000

Typical swath width is 11 km.
Dispersion of the spectrum against the detector array is accomplished
with a diffraction grating.
The total interval reaches from 380 to 2500 nanometers (roughly the
same as TM band range).
image, pushbroom-like, succession of lines, each containing 664 pixels.
 Hyperspectral Cube

shows the volume of data returned

by imaging instruments

illustrates how data from imaging

instruments is geo-referenced

data from different wavelengths

can be used to create a map (in
either true color or false color
infrared formats)
 Hyperspectral Remote Sensing
Hyperspectral images can be analyzed in ways that multispectral images
cannot

In the Visible-NIR range, water ice and dry ice give characteristic spectral
curves, as shown here:
 Hyperspectral Data Analysis

General Approach:
Develop Spectral Library
Construct spectral curve for relatively "pure" materials
Specific reflectance peaks and absorption troughs are
read from these curves.
Compare to lab spectra (mixture analysis)
Mixtures of two or even three different materials can be
identified as the components of the compound spectral
curve.
 Hyperspectral Data Analysis
Spectral Libraries:
Sets of hundreds of measured spectra for components likely to
be encountered in the study area.
 Spectral Angle
The distance measure used for spectral screening.

Band 2
(x,y) y

Band 1

For two pixel vectors x and y, the spectral angle is computed as:
n

x ,y x i yi

(x, y) cos-1 cos1 i 1
1/ 2
x 2 y 2 1/ 2
x 2 y 2
n n

i i
i 1 i 1
 Hyperspectral Data Analysis
Pure Pixel Analysis
Find relatively pure pixels
Pixel Purity Index (PPI)
Pure spectra are spectral endmembers

Endmembers
Spectral characteristics of an image that represent classes of
interest
Usually assigned based on lab spectra
Can be done manually
 Hyperspectral Data Analysis

Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA)

Also called unmixing
Assumes that the reflectance spectrum derived from
sensor can be deconvolved into a linear mixture of the
spectra of ground components
Linear / Non-linear
Linear SMA assumes linear relationship between
reflectance and area
 Linear Mixture Model
Each pixel vector x can be described as:
m
x ai s i w Sa w
i 1

where S is the nxm matrix of spectra (s1, .., sm) of the individual materials (also
called endmembers), a is an m-dimensional abundance vector and w is the
additive noise vector.

The abundances of the endmembers have the restrictions:

ai 0,i 1,...., m
m

a
i 1
i 1

The ICA performs endmember unmixing; the resulting components correspond to

the abundances of the endmembers, the columns in the mixing matrix correspond
to the endmembers.
 Future Hyperspectral Sensors

Spaceborne rather than airborne

Success:
Hyperion, is part of NASAs EO-1 - launched in
December, 2000.
Co-orbiting with Landsat 7
220 channels from 400 to 2500 nm
Ground resolution 30 meters.
Future Hyperspectral Sensors

Hyperion
 Future Hyperspectral Sensors

Off-the shelf (reduce costs)

Success: SOC 700 (Surface Optics)

Spectral Band: 0.43 to 0.9 microns

Number of Bands: 120, 240 or 480 (configurable)
Dynamic Range: 12-bit
Line Rate: Up to 100 lines/second (120 bands)
Pixels per line: 640
Exposure Time: 10 -> 10^7 microsecond
 Hyperspectral Problems

Data volume
Cost
Difficulty of analysis
Spectral Libraries
More complex