HIRIS - The High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer

Abstract

The High-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (HIRIS) is a JPL facility instrument designed for NASA's Earth Observing System (Eos).It will have 10-nm wide spectral bands from 0.4-2.5 microns at 30 m spatial resolution over a 30 km swath. The spectral resolution allows identification of many minerals in rocks and soils, important algal pigments in oceans and inland waters, spectral changes associated with plant canopy biochemistry, composition of atmospheric aerosols, and grain size of snow and its contamination by absorbing impurities. The bands wil have 12-bit quantization over a dynamic range suitable for bright targets, such as snow. For targets of low brightness, such as water bodies, image-motion compensation will allow gains up to a factor of eight to increase signal-to-noise ratios. In the 824-km orbit altitude proposed for Eos, the crosstrack pointing capability will allow 4-5 views during a 16-day revisit cycle.