Hyperspectral imaging

Hyperspectral imaging, like other spectral imaging, collects and processes information from across
the electromagnetic spectrum. Much as the human eye sees visible light in three bands (red, green,
and blue), spectral imaging divides the spectrum into many more bands. This technique of dividing
images into bands can be extended beyond the visible.
Acquisition and analysis

Two-dimensional projection of a hyperspectral cube and a hyperspectal camera
Hyperspectral sensors collect information as a set of 'images'. Each image represents a range of the
electromagnetic spectrum and is also known as a spectral band. These 'images' are then combined
and form a three-dimensional hyperspectral data cube for processing and analysis.
Hyperspectral cubes are generated from airborne sensors like the NASA's Airborne Visible/Infrared
Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), or from satellites like NASA's Hyperion. However, for many
development and validation studies, handheld sensors are used.
The precision of these sensors is typically measured in spectral resolution, which is the width of each
band of the spectrum that is captured. If the scanner detects a large number of fairly narrow
frequency bands, it is possible to identify objects even if they are only captured in a handful of
pixels. However, spatial resolution is a factor in addition to spectral resolution. If the pixels are too
large, then multiple objects are captured in the same pixel and become difficult to identify. If the
pixels are too small, then the energy captured by each sensor cell is low, and the decreased signal-
to-noise ratio reduces the reliability of measured features.
Different hyperspectral imaging technologies
There are basically three different techniques used to realize a hyperspectral imaging (HSI) device. A
first class of HSI devices is obtained by integrating a dispersive means (a prism or a grating) in an
optical system, with the drawback of having the image analyzed per lines (push broom scan) and
some mechanical parts integrated in the optical train.
The HSI devices belonging to the second class are based on optical band-pass filters (either tuneable
or fixed) and the spectrum has to be scanned in steps. Both HSI techniques lead to good quality
results but have low efficiency in term of light gathering power and long integration times are
necessary to obtain a full HSI cube.
A third method for HSI to obtain the spectrum of a light source is the so-called Fourier transform (FT)
spectroscopy; in this technique the FT is applied to the interferogram acquired by a scanning
interferometer in order to calculate the spectral composition of the light entering in the
interferometer. There are two effects which make this type of spectrometers intrinsically faster:
There is no spectral scanning and all the spectral components are acquired at the same time
(multiplex advantage).
The aperture used in FTIR spectrometers has a larger area than the slits used in dispersive
spectrometers, thus enabling higher throughput of radiation (throughput advantage).
There are two different types of interferometers that could be implemented: either the Michelson
interferometer or the Fabry-Perot interferometer.
SCANNING TECHNIQUES

Hyperspectral cameras capture data sets known as hypercubes -- stacks of 2-D image data at
different wavelengths. Since detectors can only capture two dimensions of data at one time, the
third dimension of the hypercube must be obtained by scanning.

The two established methods of capturing a hypercube are wavelength scanning in which 2-D
images are captured at each wavelength in turn (see figure, a) and image scanning in which one
image dimension and the wavelength dimension are captured simultaneously and the second image
dimension is scanned (see figure, b).

For wavelength scanning, electrooptical devices such as liquid crystal and acousto-optic tuneable
filters (LCTF and AOTF) are incorporated into the camera to select the wavelength for each
monochromatic image. For image scanning, an imaging spectrograph disperses the spectrum across
one dimension of the detector with an image of the spectrograph slit formed across the other
dimension. The second dimension of the image is obtained by scanning the camera.

The proposed method for the new hyperspectral imager developed at Aberystwyth University
employs a hybrid of the image and wavelength scanning methods (see figure, c). An interference
filter mounted at an angle in front of a monochrome camera disperses a region of the spectrum
across the field Of view (FOV) so that an image is obtained with different regions captured at
different wavelengths.
By scanning the camera across the FOV, all regions are imaged at all wavelengths within the range.
An extended wavelength range could be also obtained by employing a set of filters mounted in a
tilted filter wheel.
The method has a number of advantages over the existing methods including higher light
throughput, no polarization sensitivity, low power consumption, lighter weight, a high degree of
robustness and reliability, and relatively low cost


Applications
Agriculture
Although the cost of acquiring hyperspectral images is typically high, for specific crops and in specific
climates, hyperspectral remote sensing use is increasing for monitoring the development and health
of crops. Furthermore, work is underway to use hyperspectral data to detect the chemical
composition of plants, which can be used to detect the nutrient and water status of wheat in
irrigated systems.
Another application in agriculture is the detection of animal proteins in compound feeds to
avoid bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad-cow disease. Different studies
have been done to propose alternative tools to the reference method of detection,
(classical microscopy). One of the first alternatives is near infrared microscopy (NIR), which combines
the advantages of microscopy and NIR. In 2004, the first study relating this problem with
hyperspectral imaging was published. Hyperspectral libraries that are representative of the diversity
of ingredients usually present in the preparation of compound feeds were constructed. These
libraries can be used together with chemometric tools to investigate the limit of detection,
specificity and reproducibility of the NIR hyperspectral imaging method for the detection and
quantification of animal ingredients in feed.


Reflectance Spectra(for spectral plots)
Albedo is a term we are very familiar with in this class. It it a measure of the percentage light
reflected off the surface of an object.
We have indicated albedo by a number ranging between
0.0 and 1.0. An albedo of 0.0 is very dark (no light reflected) and an albedo of 1.0 is very bright (all
light reflected). Basalt has an albedo of about 0.11
The reflectance or reflectivity is thus the square of the magnitude of the reflection coefficient. The
reflection coefficient can be expressed as a complex number as determined by the Fresnel
equations for a single layer, whereas the reflectance (or reflectivity) is always a positive real number.
The reflectance is the fraction of electromagnetic power reflected from a specific sample.
Spectra Brightness
We can be more specific when we measure albedo by also keeping track of the specific wavelength
of light at which me measure the albedo. When we do this we can create a plot called a reflectance
spectra. On the x-axis we plot the wavelength of light, on the y-axis we plot the albedo at that
wavelength. We will almost always plot the x-axis with blue (short wavelengths) on the left and red
(long wavelengths) on the right.

An example: Above are three spectra plots. The one on the right is a plot of the reflectance spectra
of a sheet of white notebook paper. As you can see it reflects about 60% (0.6) of the light at all
visible wavelengths. This is why it appears white. The middle plot if of a black piece of paper. It looks
the same, only at a lower albedo 7% (0.07). Finally, on the right is a plot of the spectra of a grey
piece of paper. The albedo of this, 38% (0.38) is in between to white and black paper. In general, any
object the reflects light of all wavelengths equally is called a grey object.
As you can see the position of the spectra relative to the y-axis is a measure of the brightness of the
object.

Spectra - Color

Of course not all objects are grey. When we say an object is a color what we are saying is that the
object reflects more light in one part of the spectrum than the others. For example, the image on the
left shows the spectra of a red ball. As you can see the spectra is higher (brighter) at the red part of
the spectra. You can also see that the ball is fairly bright, the highest albedo is about 60% (0.6).
The position of the brightest part of the spectra relative to the x-axis is a measure of the colour of the
object.
A reflectance spectra of an object contains information about both the colour and brightness of an
object.
All Wavelengths

Visible light is only a small fraction of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Everything we have seen
above can be generalized to all wavelengths of light. For example, we can measure the albedo of a
sample in the infrared part of the spectrum, as well as the visible part. As a matter of fact, most of
the interesting parts of the spectrum for rocks are generally in the infrared part of the spectrum.
The spectra shows the reflectance spectra of two rock samples. Notice that the visible part of the
spectra is only a small part of the range that is plotted. You can see that lots of interesting things are
happening outside the visible part of the spectrum.