<title>Multispectral imagery simulation</title>

Abstract

Itek Optical Systems has developed a hybrid multispectral imagery simulation capability based on physical images of a terrain board and computer modeling of radiation propagation. This process produces multispectral imagery within the 0.4 micrometers to 2.5 micrometers wavelength region that reflects the complex interactions among the ground scene reflectance, atmospheric radiance and attenuation, system acquisition conditions, and sensor performance characteristics. This process is used to evaluate performance of multispectral sensor designs by comparing output products representative of each design. Imagery produced by this process is also well suited for automatic processing algorithms because various imaging parameters are easily and independently altered in a controlled manner. These parameters may include spectral band placement, bandwidth, number of bands, image spatial resolution, sensor noise, feature location, and mixed pixel composition. The resulting simulation imagery can be otherwise identical in scene content, allowing direct analysis of algorithm performance as a function of specific input scene and acquisition conditions.