A new airborne Earth observing system and its applications

A new airborne Earth observing system has been developed in China directed by the Expert Group for Information Acquisition and Processing Technology, Hi-tech Research and Development Program of China during the period from 1996 to 2000. The system is composed of 5 remote sensing sensors, including a 128-band modular imaging spectrometer with high spectral resolution, 244-band hyperspectral imaging spectrometer, an area array CCD digital camera with high spatial resolution, a 3 D imager with real time imaging capability, and an L-band SAR with 3m resolution. These sensors are installed onto different aircraft according to their performance, therefore, forming a set of distributive airborne Earth observing system. Since 1998, demonstrative applications study using the system has been conducted, and remote sensing imagery over 10 test sites have been acquired. These data after processing and analysis have achieved very satisfactory application results in rice classification, urban planning, water pollution and desertification monitoring, natural hazards monitoring, mineral exploration and other fields. These demonstrate the roles and application potentials of the new airborne system for Earth observation.