Design and implementation of digital airborne multispectral camera system

Abstract

The multispectral imaging equipment is a kind of new generation remote sensor, which can obtain the target image and the spectra information simultaneously. A digital airborne multispectral camera system using discrete filter method had been designed and implemented for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and manned aircraft platforms. The digital airborne multispectral camera system has the advantages of larger frame, higher resolution, panchromatic and multispectral imaging. It also has great potential applications in the fields of environmental and agricultural monitoring and target detection and discrimination. In order to enhance the measurement precision and accuracy of position and orientation, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is integrated in the digital airborne multispectral camera. Meanwhile, the Temperature Control Unit (TCU) guarantees that the camera can operate in the normal state in different altitudes to avoid the window fogging and frosting which will degrade the imaging quality greatly. Finally, Flying experiments were conducted to demonstrate the functionality and performance of the digital airborne multispectral camera. The resolution capability, positioning accuracy and classification and recognition ability were validated.