NOVEL HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGER FOR LIGHTWEIGHT UAVS

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed a new miniaturized staring hyperspectral imager with a weight of 350 g making the system compatible with lightweight UAS platforms. The instrument is able to record 2D spatial images at the selected wavelength bands simultaneously. The concept of the hyperspectral imager has been published in the SPIE Proc. 7474(1). The operational wavelength range of the imager can be tuned in the range 400 - 1100 nm and spectral resolution is in the range 5 - 10 nm @ FWHM. Presently the spatial resolution is 480 x 750 pixels but it can be increased simply by changing the image sensor. The field of view of the system is 20 x 30 degrees and ground pixel size at 100 m flying altitude is around 7.5 cm. The system contains batteries, image acquisition control system and memory for the image data. It can operate autonomously recording hyperspectral data cubes continuously or controlled by the autopilot system of the UAS. The new hyperspectral imager prototype was first tried in co-operation with the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) on their UAS helicopter. The instrument was configured for the spectral range 500 - 900 nm selected for the vegetation and natural water monitoring applications. The design of the UAS hyperspectral imager and its characterization results together with the analysis of the spectral data from first test flights will be presented.