Airborne Multispectral Digital Camera and Video Sensors: a Critical Review of System Designs and Applications

Airborne multispectral remote sensor development based on low cost solid-state video and digital cameras has proceeded rapidly in the past ten years to a level where such sensors now compete with larger more sophisticated sensors in the commercial mapping and scientific research contract marketplace. For many organizations, development or leasing of such sensors is a cost-effective and advantageous alternative to buying data. The objective of this paper is to review the state-ofthe-art in multispectral video/digital camera sensor design, the benefits and limitations of these designs, the types of applications in which they have been most commonly used, and some potential new applications. The paper demonstrates that low cost custom sensor design is currently viable, that the field of applications is very diverse, both in type and in level of scientific sophistication, and that many of these applications are operational, having been integrated into routine mapping/monitoring programs.