Hyperspectral Data Cube: This cube shows the spatial and spectral characteristics of the 234 wavelength bands of the Airborne Visible-Infrared Imaging System (AVIRIS).

Data taken at 4:40 pm  on September 5th, 2001.

Airborne Visible-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer instrument aboard a NASA ER2 Aircraft platform  20 km above sea level, at about  730 km / hr. Spatial Resolution: 3.4 m / pixel

A total of 359,424 pixels comprise this source image. Each pixel has 234 DN radiance values associated with it, yielding a total of more than 84.1 million pieces of information in a single scene.

Project Funding

Through the efforts of Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), Muhlenberg College has received a federal appropriation of $1.5 million to develop an innovative, three-year program to bring NASA data and new technologies directly to the classroom and laboratory for the improvement of the teaching of physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, environmental science, mathematics, and computer science. The appropriation was inserted into the fiscal 2002 spending bill that funds the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Some of the funds have been used to establish and fund Muhlenberg College's Image Processing Lab (IPL).The IPL's primary uses will be for outreach promoting the interdisciplinary use of remotely sensed data in the classroom as well student and faculty research in the analysis of remotely sensed data.

Image Processing Laboratory (IPL)

The total space includes a group computing area, storage and two offices totaling 515 square feet with seating for up to 12 persons. The lab utilizes five high-end computers. Each Compaq Evo D510 computer is equipped with dual 17-inch, flat screen monitor system that affords an enlarged Widows desktop work area. Each workstation locally runs RSI's ENVI image analysis software as well as ESRI's ArcView graphical information systems software. All five workstations have high-speed access to both the Internet and a dedicated high-speed server via the campus intranet. A shared high-resolution large format color printer is also provided in the lab.

A dedicated data and workspace server is on line. The server provides static data storage and access, as well as dynamic individual account space for users. The server consists of a dual 2.8 GHz Processor, with a 400 MHz bus, 4.0 gigabytes of RAM and approximately 0.5 terabytes of disk space, expandable up to 2 terabytes, a redundant power supply, and a 320 gigabyte internal tape backup.