Hyperspectral image data analysis

The fundamental basis for space-based remote sensing is that information is potentially available from the electromagnetic energy field arising from the Earth's surface and, in particular, from the spatial, spectral, and temporal variations in that field. Rather than focusing on the spatial variations, which imagery perhaps best conveys, why not move on to look at how the spectral variations might be used. The idea was to enlarge the size of a pixel until it includes an area that is characteristic from a spectral response standpoint for the surface cover to be discriminated. The article includes an example of an image space representation, using three bands to simulate a color IR photograph of an airborne hyperspectral data set over the Washington, DC, mall.