THE AIRBORNE VISIBLE INFRARED IMAGING SPECTROMETER (AVIRIS)

The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) is a facility consisting of a flight system, a ground data system, a calibrationfacility, and a full-time operations team. The facility was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) underfundingfrom the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA also provides fundingfor operations and maintenance. Theflight system is a whisk-broom imager that acquires data in 224 narrow, contiguous spectral bands covering the solar reflected portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is flown aboard the NASA high altitude ER-2 research aircraft. The ground data system is a facility dedicated to the processing and distribution of data acquired by AVIRIS. It operates year round at JPL. The calibration facility consists of a calibration laboratory at JPL and a suite of field instruments and procedures for performing inflight calibration of AVIRIS. A small team of engineers, technicians and scientists supports a yearly operations schedule that includes 6 months of flight operations, 6 months of routine ground maintenance of the flight system, and year-round data processing and distribution. Details of the AVIRIS system, its performance history, and future plans are described.