Surface reflectance mapping using interferometric spectral imagery from a remotely piloted aircraft

During October 1997, a prototype sensor was flown on an experimental remotely piloted aircraft over the island of Kauai as part of a terrestrial remote sensing technology feasibility study. The authors describe the deployment, testing, and evaluation of the compact lightweight sensor design based on two-beam interferometry for acquiring visible and near-infrared spectral images. The resulting images of agricultural fields and an air base facility are presented and evaluated. Surface albedo measurements obtained from a ground based spectrometer and an atmospheric profile measured from a radiosonde were used to establish ground-truth and to evaluate the spectral imager´s performance. Quantitative intercomparisons between ground-based and airborne-based measurements were made using an atmospheric model based on MODTRAN together with algorithms to account for the sensors´ differences in instrumental line shape and spectral sampling grids. The future potential of this alternative sensor technology is discussed in the light of current and predicted sensor performance