Abstract

Space-borne remote sensing of the coastal environment has driven the development of hyperspectral imaging sensors with both high SNR and demanding image quality over a broad spectral range. Coastal scenes are characterized by the low albedo water adjacent to high albedo white sandy beaches, which drives optical specifications (fig.1) such as throughput, scattered light, and spectral channel cross-talk due to keystone distortion. Polarization insensitivity is also important for accurately fitting the measured radiance with algorithms for atmospheric correction. The design pursued by Navy EarthMap Observer (NEMO) Satellite Program is that of a three-mirror anastigmat (TMA) telescope followed by a common entrance slit to separate visible-near infrared (VNIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) imaging spectrographs. The telescope and VNIR spectrometer are shown in figure 2, with SWIR spectrograph and fold mirrors omitted for clarity.

© 1998 Optical Society of America