An imaging spectrometer operating in the visible near infrared for the study of planetary surfaces

This paper summarizes the capabilities, performances, and technical solutions of the Visible and Near InfraRed (VNIR) imaging spectrometer designed,for remote sensing of planetary surfaces from a satellite platform. The VNIR consists of a multichannel camera with a spectral range 0.35 < lambda < 1.05 mu m which acquires data in 288 spectral channels with a spectral resolution of 24.3 Angstrom. The instantaneous field of view of the instrument is 0.4 x 0.4 mrad. The simultaneous acquisition of both spatial and spectral data provides a powerful means for investigating the mineralogical and chemical composition of surfaces of solar system objects. The paper also reports some results from the first campaign of ground-based telescopic observations intended to test the instrument. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.