Development of lightweight hyperspectral imaging system for UAV observation

To acquire accurate, real-time hyperspectral images with high spatial resolution, we develop two types of low-cost, lightweight Whisk broom hyperspectral sensors that can be loaded onto lightweight unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV) platforms. A system is composed of two Mini-Spectrometers, a polygon mirror, references for sensor calibration, a GPS sensor, a data logger and a power supply. The acquisition of images with high spatial resolution is realized by a ground scanning along a direction perpendicular to the flight direction based on the polygon mirror. To cope with the unstable illumination condition caused by the low-altitude observation, skylight radiation and dark current are acquired in real-time by the scanning structure. Another system is composed of 2D optical fiber array connected to eight Mini-Spectrometers and a telephoto lens, a convex lens, a micro mirror, a GPS sensor, a data logger and a power supply. The acquisition of images is realized by a ground scanning based on the rotation of the micro mirror.