A significant step forward in the world of earth observation was made
with the development of imaging spectrometry. Imaging spectrometers
measure reflected solar radiance from the earth in many narrow spectral
bands. Such a spectroscopical imaging system is capable of detecting
subtle absorption bands in the reflectance spectra and measure the
reflectance spectra of various objects with a very high accuracy. As a
result, imaging spectrometry enables a better identification of objects
at the earth surface and a better quantification of the object
properties than can be achieved by traditional earth observation sensors
such as Landsat TM and SPOT. The various chapters in the book present
the concepts of imaging spectrometry by discussing the underlying
physics and the analytical image processing techniques. The second part
of the book presents in detail a wide variety of applications of these
new techniques ranging from mineral identification, mapping of expansive
soils, land degradation, agricultural crops, natural vegetation and
surface water quality.
*Additional information on extras.springer.com
*Sample hyperspectral remote sensing data sets and ENVI viewing software
(Freelook) are available on http: //extras.springer.com