Technological
advances in the 1980s made possible the development of airborne imaging
spectrometers, with the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer
(AVIRIS) possibly being the most important (ISI Web of
Science reports 1,826 peer-reviewed publications related to “AVIRIS”
or “Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer” between 1989
and mid-May 2015). These sensors rapidly realized their potential, and
the 1990s saw a burgeoning of use, from case studies to regional-scale
applications. However, it was not until the 2000s that hyperspectral systems
were placed on space-based platforms (Hyperion, HICO). These
were proof-of-concept missions, and they exceeded their objectives,
but they lacked the capacity for long-term, global-scale mapping