A Manual Transportable Instrument Platform for Ground-Based Spectro-Directional Observations (ManTIS) and the Resultant Hyperspectral Field Goniometer System

This article presents and technically describes a new field spectro-goniometer system for the ground-based characterization of the surface reflectance anisotropy under natural illumination conditions developed at the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). The spectro-goniometer consists of a Manual Transpo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sensors
Main Authors: Marcel Buchhorn, Reinhold Petereit, Birgit Heim
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/s131216105
https://doaj.org/article/ad07f3d3603141cfb46544252c759b5b
Description
Summary:This article presents and technically describes a new field spectro-goniometer system for the ground-based characterization of the surface reflectance anisotropy under natural illumination conditions developed at the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). The spectro-goniometer consists of a Manual Transportable Instrument platform for ground-based Spectro-directional observations (ManTIS), and a hyperspectral sensor system. The presented measurement strategy shows that the AWI ManTIS field spectro-goniometer can deliver high quality hemispherical conical reflectance factor (HCRF) measurements with a pointing accuracy of ±6 cm within the constant observation center. The sampling of a ManTIS hemisphere (up to 30° viewing zenith, 360° viewing azimuth) needs approx. 18 min. The developed data processing chain in combination with the software used for the semi-automatic control provides a reliable method to reduce temporal effects during the measurements. The presented visualization and analysis approaches of the HCRF data of an Arctic low growing vegetation showcase prove the high quality of spectro-goniometer measurements. The patented low-cost and lightweight ManTIS instrument platform can be customized for various research needs and is available for purchase.