A review of hyperspectral imaging in close range applications

Abstract

Hyperspectral imaging is an established method for material mapping, which has been conventionally applied from airborne and spaceborne platforms for a range of applications, including mineral and vegetation mapping, change detection and environmental studies. The main advantage of lightweight hyperspectral imagers lies in the flexibility to deploy them from various platforms (terrestrial imaging and from unmanned aerial vehicles; UAVs), as well as the high spectral resolution to cover an expanding wavelength range. In addition, spatial resolution allows object sampling distances from micrometres to tens of centimetres – complementary to conventional nadir-looking systems. When this new type of imaging device was initially released, few instruments were available and the applicability and potential of the method was restricted. Today, a wider range of instruments, with a range of specifications, is available, with significant improvements over the first generation of technology. In this contribution, the state-of-the-art of hyperspectral imaging will be reviewed from a close range measurement perspective, highlighting how the method supplements geometric modelling techniques. An overview of the processing workflow, adjusted to the more complex close range imaging scenario will be given. This includes the integration with 3D laser scanning and photogrammetric models to provide a geometric framework and real world coordinate system for the hyperspectral imagery.