Principles and satellite applications of the information-efficient spectral imaging sensor

Remote sensing by satellite is increasingly important to the national government for treaty verification, battlefield monitoring, and other activities. In addition, civilian oriented applications are increasing in areas such as geology, meteorology, ecology, forestry, and agriculture. Spectral imaging sensors, an important subclass of satellite-borne sensors, have been shown to provide information far superior to that of conventional panchromatic images in many of these applications. However, spectral imaging adds at least two challenges to the already difficult task of viewing the earth from a distance of hundreds of kilometers. First, with numerous spectral channels, the signal-to-noise ratio is decreased in any one channel. Second the data rates of spectral imaging sensors (10 Mbytes/sec, or more) stress the limits of the electronic systems, including the onboard data storage, the downlink bandwidth, and the earthbound image analysis system. This report describes a new concept which the authors have dubbed the information-efficient spectral imaging sensor (ISIS) which addresses these two problems. In addition, it offers the promise of nearly real-time identification of targets.