Research & Development
Hyperspectral Cameras
The development of hyperspectral imaging systems at NEO started in 1995 when the company was contracted by the European Space Agency (ESA) to perform a two-year definition study of a Hyperspectral Imager for Small Satellites (HISS), covering the spectral range from 400nm to 2500nm. As ESA did not have any immediate plans for launching a small satellite carrying a hyperspectral instrument at that time, it was decided to use the experience gained from the HISS study to develop a hyperspectral camera for airborne applications, ASI (Airborne Spectral Imager). The first prototype was realized in 1998-99.
In 2001, a cooperation with the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI) was initiated, a cooperation which is still on-going. In the framework of this cooperation, the ASI camera participated in a multinational military measurement campaign in France in 2002. An upgraded version of the instrument was flown in 2003 and 2004 in different multinational military field trials. In 2004, airborne hyperspectral data were also acquired for several civilian research institutions, such as the Norwegian Crop Research Institute, the Norwegian Forest Research Institute, and the Norwegian Space Centre. The cooperation with these institutions was continued in 2005 when a further upgraded version of the instrument was flown successfully, including a hyperspectral camera module covering the SWIR region (900 to 1700nm), in addition to the visible and Near Infrared region (400 to 1000nm). Hyperspectral data acquired in these campaigns is a vital part of the remote sensing activities in all these institutions. The feedback from the end users, and the operational experience from airborne data acquisition has provided very useful input to our R&D activities related to improving the hyperspectral cameras, as well as the airborne system (including IMU/GPS) and the practical operation of hyperspectral cameras.
In 2003 NEO became involved in a defense research project called HYPOLAC (Hyperspectral Polarimetric Active and Passive Imaging). Several French institutions (Thales Research & Technology, Thales Optronique SA and The Fresnel Institute at the University of Marseille) participated with NEO as the prime contractor. The goal of this project was to realize a technology demonstrator of an active multispectral polarimetric imager; a very advanced instrument using a multiwavelength laser source for illumination of the scene and a modified version of NEOs hyperspectral camera on the receiver side. In addition to the use of NEO's imaging spectrometer on the receiver side of the active instrument, passive hyperspectral data from the ASI/HySpex spectrometers were used to select the appropriate wavelengths for the active instrument. This project, completed in 2006, was a technological success.
In 2004 a cooperation was contracted by the Norwegian Institute for Fish Research to develop a hyperspectral camera suited for online industrial inspection of fish fillets. Experience from this project is useful when implementing our industrial hyperspectral cameras in industrial applications.
All the research activities from HISS via ASI, civil and military airborne campaigns and HYPOLAC and industrial projects have led to the development of a line of hyperspectral cameras (HySpex) which is well suited for a wide variety of applications in both the civilian and military domain.
NEO is currently participating in several application specific R&D projects and project proposals in cooperation with several leading research institutions in their respective fields. This includes projects in application fields ranging from airborne military target detection, airborne remote sensing of forests and farmlands, to industrial quality control, biophysics, forensics and fluorescent imaging spectroscopy. Our involvement ranges from being a full project partner to supplying instruments or data acquisition services as subcontractors to projects.
We are constantly looking for new R&D projects and partners, so please contact us to discuss with your imaging spectroscopy needs or ideas.
Hyper-I-Net Participation
The Hyperspectral Imaging Network (HYPER-I-NET) is a four-year (2007-2010) FP6 Marie Curie Research Training Network designed to build an interdisciplinary European research community focusing on hyperspectral imaging activities, mainly in remote sensing. NEO is one of 15 highly experienced European partner institutions forming the Hyper-I-NET consortium. See the HYPER-I-NET website for more information.
In the framework of the Hyper-I-Net, NEO is hosting one Ph.D. student, and we are also regularly hosting M.Sc. and Ph.D. students in cooperation with Norwegian and international universities.
Customized solutions
In case the HySpex specifications don’t meet the requirements of your application, please contact us. NEO designs and delivers customized solutions.
The Hyper-I-Net Consortium
University of Extremadura
German Remote Sensing Data Centre
Norwegian Defence Research Establishment
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Instituto Superior Técnico;
Kayser-Threde GmbH
Institut National polytechnique de Grenoble
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Norsk Elektro Optikk AS
University of Zurich
Spectral Imaging Oy Ltd.
University of Iceland
Warsaw University
