General approach to assessing the value of hyperspectral imagery and its application to sensor concept evaluation

Metrics are defined which quantify the 'value' of hyperspectral imagery in the context of military tasks. A design trade-off process for sensor concept evaluation is described which takes account of constraints, such as system cost and technology limitations, on the permitted values of design parameters. The particular issue of band selection is addressed in some detail. Techniques for evaluating sensor design trade-offs are then described, based principally on simulating sensor configurations using measured image data as input. The initial use of these techniques against a limited data set is reported.