Abstract
Ecosystems, their services, structures and functions are affected by complex environmental processes, which are both natural and human-induced and globally changing. In order to understand how ecosystems behave in globally changing environment, it is important to monitor the current status of ecosystems and their structural and functional changes in time and space. An essential tool allowing monitoring of ecosystems is remote sensing (RS). Many ecosystems variables are being translated into a spectral response recorded by RS instruments. It is however important to understand the complexity and synergies of the key ecosystem variables influencing the reflected signal. This can be achieved by analysing high resolution RS data from multiple sources acquired simultaneously from the same platform. Such a system has been recently built at CzechGlobe - Global Change Research Institute (The Czech Academy of Sciences). <br><br> CzechGlobe has been significantly extending its research infrastructure in the last years, which allows advanced monitoring of ecosystem changes at hierarchical levels spanning from molecules to entire ecosystems. One of the CzechGlobe components is a laboratory of imaging spectroscopy. The laboratory is now operating a new platform for advanced remote sensing observations called FLIS (Flying Laboratory of Imaging Spectroscopy). FLIS consists of an airborne carrier equipped with passive RS systems. The core instrument of FLIS is a hyperspectral imaging system provided by Itres Ltd. The hyperspectral system consists of three spectroradiometers (CASI 1500, SASI 600 and TASI 600) that cover the reflective spectral range from 380 to 2450 nm, as well as the thermal range from 8 to 11.5 μm. The airborne platform is prepared for mounting of full-waveform laser scanner Riegl-Q780 as well, however a laser scanner is not a permanent part of FLIS. In 2014 the installation of the hyperspectral scanners was completed and the first flights were carried out with all sensors. <br><br> The new hyperspectral imaging system required adaptations in the data pre-processing chain. The established pre-processing chain (radiometric, atmospheric and geometric corrections), which was tailored mainly to the AISA Eagle instrument operated at CzechGlobe since 2004, has been now modified to fit the new system and users needs. Continuous development of the processing chain is now focused mainly on establishing pre-processing of thermal data including emissivity estimation and also on joint processing of hyperspectral and laser scanning data.
Highlights
1.1 Hyperspectral remote sensing at CzechGlobeAirborne hyperspectral remote sensing is an advanced tool in the field of remote sensing (RS) (Goetz, 2009)
Compared to traditional multispectral sensors, which record the reflected solar radiation in several broad spectral bands, hyperspectral sensors record it into many narrow continuous spectral bands (Schaepman, 2009)
A typical spectral range covered by hyperspectral sensors spans from the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) bands (i.e. 400 – 1000 nm) towards the short-wave infrared (SWIR) bands (i.e. 1000 – 2500 nm)
Summary
Airborne hyperspectral remote sensing (imaging spectroscopy) is an advanced tool in the field of remote sensing (RS) (Goetz, 2009). This paper introduces FLIS, i.e. an airborne carrier equipped with a suite of hyperspectral sensors and eventually a laser scanner, and further it introduces a pre-processing chain for hyperspectral RS data established at CzechGlobe. The airborne carrier is a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan with two fuselage slits for imaging RS instruments (see Fig. 1) Both slits are equipped with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers POSAV410. If hyperspectral data are acquired for very demanding purposes, excellent calibration and corrections of the raw RS data is required In this case, it is necessary to carry out a supportive ground measurement campaign, where additional data on surface reflectance, geometric accuracy of selected ground control points and atmospheric conditions are measured simultaneously to RS data acquisition.
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