Multispectral Imager Enhances Remote Sensing

Scientists at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi have developed a portable multispectral imaging device operating in a range of user-selectable bands. The imager produces multiple video images of the same scene at spectral bands ranging from the ultraviolet through the infrared.
Researchers have proposed several applications for the multispectral imager, including monitoring stress in growing plants. Plants under stress decrease their chlorophyll
production, and scientists can use the imager to determine the chlorophyll levels by observing variations in the plant's reflectance. To eliminate the effects of ambient light, the instrument takes two coregistered images of the plant.