Hyperspectral Satellites, Evolution, and Development History

Hyperspectral imaging has been emerged as a new generation of technology for earth observation and space exploration since the beginning of this millennium and widely used in various disciplinary and applications. The fascinating detailed spectral information acquired by hyperspectral imagers often yields results not possible with multispectral or other types of satellites. This article provides an overview of spaceborne hyperspectral imagers, technology evolution, and development history. After introduction of hyperspectral satellites, it first describes the principle of hyperspectral imaging. It then reviews the history of hyperspectral technology development, starting from the first airborne hyperspectral imager AIS built in early 1980s, the first operational airborne hyperspectral imager AVIRIS developed since middle 1980s, the first commercial airborne hyperspectral instrument CASI fabricated since late 1980s, followed by the development of hyperspectral technology in Canada between 1980s and 1990s, and the NASA planned orbiting hyperspectral imagers in 1990s, until the first spaceborne hyperspectral imager Hyperion launched in 2000. This article summarizes the survey carried out by the author on spaceborne hyperspectral imagers to date. There exist at least 25 hyperspectral imagers that have been deployed into space. Among them, 19 are aboard satellites orbiting earth. Six of them are out of earth orbits for Moon, Mars, Venus, and comet missions. The article briefly describes these spaceborne hyperspectral imagers and their mission objectives with the focus on the instrument performance parameters and technical features. This article also briefly reviews six upcoming spaceborne hyperspectral imagers, including EnMAP, MAJIS, OCI, HyspIRI, FLORIS, and CHIME.