Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer 3 (AVIRIS-3)

TLDR

AVIRIS‑3 is the third NASA AVIRIS imaging spectrometer, developed alongside the Compact Wide‑swath Imaging Spectrometer II from the University of Zurich. The paper aims to describe AVIRIS‑3’s design and development, positioning it as a next‑generation imaging spectrometer for NASA science and applications. AVIRIS‑3 employs a cryogenic, EMIT‑based Dyson imaging spectrometer with a two‑mirror telescope, offering 380–2500 nm coverage at 7.4 nm resolution, 0–max terrestrial Lambertian radiance dynamic range, 39.5° field of view with 0.56 mrad sampling, and real‑time onboard processing. The study presents AVIRIS‑3’s characteristics, showing improved performance relative to earlier AVIRIS models.

Abstract

The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer 3 (AVIRIS-3) is the third of the NASA AVIRIS spectrometer series and is being developed in parallel with the Compact Wide-swath Imaging Spectrometer II (CWIS-II) being developed with the University of Zurich, Switzerland. The core spectrometer of AVIRIS-3 is a copy of the optically fast, F/1.8 Dyson imaging spectrometer used by the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) that is in development and scheduled for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2022. AVIRIS-3 is intended to provide state-of-the-art imaging spectroscopy measurements for NASA science and application through the next decade and beyond. AVIRIS-3 uses the EMIT spectrometer design interfaced with a scaled two-mirror telescope enclosed in a compact vacuum vessel to enable measurements from airborne platforms ranging from a Twin Otter to a business jet or a NASA ER-2. AVIRIS-3 is a cryogenic instrument with advanced system control and real-time onboard spectroscopic data processing algorithms evolved from AVIRIS-NG. The spectral range of AVIRIS-3 is 380 to 2500 nm with 7.4 nm sampling. The radiometric range is from 0 to max terrestrial Lambertian radiance with higher signal-to-noise ratio performance than AVIRIS-Classic or AVIRIS-Next Generation. The spatial field-of-view is 39.5 degrees with 0.56 milliradian sampling. This paper describes the design and development of AVIRIS-3 and presents its characteristics in comparison to the previous generation imaging spectrometers.