The Headwall Blog

NASA's Operation Ice Bridge (OIB) images the Earth’s polar ice in unprecedented detail to better understand processes that connect the polar regions with the global climate system.

Douglas DC-8, GulfStream V, Lockheed Martin P-3, and de Havilland Twin Otter flights provide a multi-instrument look at the behavior of the rapidly changing features of the Greenland and Antarctic ice.

Supraglacial lake observations using thermal imaging and spectra from a Headwall Nano-Hyperspec^® VNIR sensor (left). Image from NASA Operation IceBridge Overview 2018.

Headwall Co-Aligned and SWIR sensors are utilized for hyperspectral imaging. These operate in temperatures well below normal operating conditions, and Headwall support personnel sometimes provide remote troubleshooting to personnel, who may be on satellite phone in flight.

Usually manned and unmanned aircraft don’t fly in close proximity for very good reason, but we were granted an exemption on Tuesday, April 9th 2019. As part of a joint Headwall and NEON (National Ecological Observatory Network, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and operated by Battelle) project, a Headwall drone and a DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, one of the NEON Airborne Observation Platforms (AOPs), where flown simultaneously in controlled airspace within a short drive of the University of Colorado – Boulder.

The Systems and Technologies for Remote Sensing Applications Through Unmanned Aerial Systems (STRATUS) workshop at the Rochester Institute of Technology is always fun yet educational, and a great opportunity for those of us in industry to meet with researchers and students.

The November 2018 issue of Poultry Digital magazine features a "Foreign Intelligence" article (pages 10-13) on how imaging technology can reduce or eliminate poultry production line pollution. Headwall hyperspectral cameras can detect the spectral "fingerprint" of contamination such as fecal matter or the hallmarks of diseases such as septicemia and toxemia.

As remote sensing evolves, users across all applications are discovering the value of adding LiDAR instruments to a hyperspectral payload. First, instruments of all types are getting smaller and lighter. Second, UAVs are more capable than ever in terms of carrying capacity and airborne stability. Finally, users across agriculture, minerals and mining, and environmental research can now collect a full suite of useful data at one time. With powerful GPS/IMU devices to tie the data streams together, a completely integrated hyperspectral-LiDAR airborne package is now the 'gold standard' for many remote sensing missions.

In Amsterdam this week, more than 40 attendees at the IEEE SpectroExpo-WHISPERS conference have participated in a field test of Headwall's Nano-Hyperspec® VNIR sensor. VNIR is shorthand for 'Visible-Near-Infrared,' and the sensor collects image data from 400-1000nm across 270 spectral bands and 640 spatial pixels.