Rigorous mathematical modeling of airborne pushbroom imaging systems

Airborne pushbroom imaging systems are becoming increasingly of interest for panchromatic, multispectral, and hyperspectral applications. The source imagery for this paper is from the HYDICE (Hyperspectral Digital Imagery Collection Experiment) sensor, developed by the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center. The primary focus of this paper is to present rigorous mathematical models that rectify a single band of HYDICE imagery so that each pixel in the image can be accurately transformed to its ground location. Equations are presented for a piecewise polynomial model and a Gauss-Markov model. The implementation of the mathematical modeling of straight linear features into the rectification using either model is discussed. The valuable contribution of linear features and the superior performance of the Gauss-Markov model are shown in tables as well as in orthorectified images that compare the results to those from simpler models.