Telops Hyper-Cam Airborne Mini – A hyperspectral camera system for the thermal infrared

• Subject Area: Geodesy, Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics, Cartography ; Soil Sciences ; Ecology of Land Use ; Plant Cultivation, Plant Nutrition, Agricultural Technology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 514067990

The camera extends the research options not only to new wavelengths but to numerous new research questions and fields of application within the environmental and agricultural sciences, geology and soil sciences, nature protection as well as planning in urban and rural areas. So far, only broadband thermal imagers are installed in the gyrocopter, but a hyperspectral thermal camera would allow to observe the thermal infrared in much more detail. This enables to detect gas emissions based on spectral signatures as well as to observe and analyze properties of surfaces and materials by analyzing the differences in the spectrum. Based on the relation between materials and their emission of electromagnetic radiation a number of research questions can be addressed. Existing longterm experiences with the available hyperspectral sensors for the 400 nm to 2500 nm wavelength bands show, that the analysis of spectral data by machine learning approaches can foster the development and research in many novel fields of application. Moreover, the planned extension of the wavelength range to the thermal infrared in combination with existing sensors allows to achieve a fully new quality and more complete observation and understanding of processes and structures on the Earth’s surface. The option to operate the sensor in other aircraft systems offers a high flexibility with respect to addressable research questions and ground coverage of the observed regions. There exist numerous options to operate the airborne sensor. The sensor and the sensing platform interface with a lot of interesting questions for interdisciplinary research. The general scope is to enable and address basic research, proof of principle as well as proof of concept studies for the operation of thermal imaging spectroscopy. All research questions involve innovative assessment of thermal infrared spectral signatures in the range of 7.4 to 11.8 micrometers for identification of materials, material compositions, and processes. Currently, the availability of such a sensor to civil and scientific users in Germany and Europe would nearly be unique.

• DFG Programme: Major Instrumentation Initiatives
• Major Instrumentation: Hyperspektralkamera
• Instrumentation Group: 5450 Photographische Spezialkameras (Luftbild-, Registrier-, Stereo-, außer
• Applicant Institution: Hochschule Anhalt
• Leader: Professor Dr. Uwe Knauer