Idaho State University’s Department of Geosciences Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory (BCAL) and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) recently published a paper on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The paper, “Radiometric and Geometric Analysis of Hyperspectral Imagery Acquired from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” was published in the journal Remote Sensing. The research utilizes a new light-weight (2.8 pounds) state-of-the-art hyperspectral sensor from Resonon in Bozeman, Mont.
The hyperspectral sensor is unique in that it provides spectroscopy information about biophysical features that no other UAS sensors have demonstrated. ISU’s Jessica Mitchell is currently working with INL, BLM, and Orchard Training Area/Idaho Military Division to map native shrubs and invasive grasses with the UAS sensor. Her work was presented in China in summer 2012 at an IEEE conference.