Abstract
Hyperspectral sensors provide a large amount of both spatial and spectral information. Calibration plays an important role in the efficient use of such a rich data source. However, calibration is extremely time consuming if undertaken with traditional strategies. Recent studies demonstrated that various non-uniformities, and detector imperfections drastically affect the hyperspectral data
quality if not known and corrected for. The APEX (Airborne Prism Experiment) spectrometer adopts an automatic calibration and characterization strategy with the ultimate goal of providing scientific products of very high accuracy. This strategy relies on the control test master (CTM), an advanced software/hardware equipment able to control independently the instrumentation, and to process online or offline the large amount of data acquired to characterize such a sophisticated instrument. Those data, once processed by the master processor, will generate several coefficients that in turn will feed the processing and archiving facility (PAF), a software module that
calibrates the acquired scenes, and corrects for artefacts and non-uniformities.