An Airborne VNIR and SWIR Imaging Spectrometer

Flight Landata, Inc.

Lawrence, MA

Developed Airborne VNIR and SWIR Imaging Spectrometer (AVSIS) that acquires calibrated hyperspectral data within the 400-1,700nm range (expandable to 2,500nm) for light aircraft/UAV. AVSIS measures Earth surface spectral reflectance or radiance by simultaneously imaging Earth surface and acquiring downwelling irradiance or reference radiance via switching fiber optics.

• Achieved tight integration by utilizing a powerful airborne computer to interface and power AVSIS's imaging components, positioning/attitude/altitude measurement sensors, and radio link.
• Seamless real-time operation is implemented by intuitive graphical user interface or system automation.
• AVSIS can be operated alone or as a networked node with other supplementary nodes in an imaging cluster.

• Potential commercial applications include precision agriculture, forest management, coastal environmental studies, wetland delineation, and surface pollution detection.
• Current customers who have expressed an interest in the device include the Army Corps of Engineers, Army Night Vision Lab, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Applied Analysis, Inc., MIT Lincoln Lab, University of Idaho, University of Montana, and the Bureau of Land Management.

• Awarded $318,000 contract by the U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center (TEC) to build a modified version of the system, which will be used in Iraq to locate Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) so that they can be disabled.
• AVSIS applications include NASA calibration/validation for the multitude of hyperspectral and multispectral satellites and new application development.

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