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.