The original technology in the Hyperspectral Airborne Tactical Instrument (HATI) was originally developed to fly in space, but now it's doing work mounted on small aircraft.
It's built on low-cost commercial hardware and was recently used to explore environmental change in the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve. Northrop Grumman hopes the low barrier to entry will mean further use of hyperspectral sensors. Says Mark Folkman of NG Space Technology:
"We are looking to work with customers who are interested in very low-cost HSI sensors for earth science missions, such as coastal waters imaging, land use, vegetation characterization and monitoring, wildfires, pollution and environmental damage."
Oh, and the technology may one get to space...
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Optics.org
