UNEBirD
UNEBirD; an acronym for UNE’s Bidirectional Imaging and Reflectance Detector, is a multispectral imaging system carried in a light aircraft. UNEBirD comprises 4 CCD video cameras in a 2 X 2 array and a IBM-compatible computer containing a 4-channel framegrabber board. Each camera captures a static image in a separate waveband governed by an interchangeable filter. For most vegetation-based research the “standard vegetation” wavebands of blue (450 nm), green (550 nm), red (650 nm) and near-infrared (770 nm) are used, however they can be set to any value according to the needs of the imaging mission. Each filter has a band-pass of 25 nm and each camera is fitted with a 12-mm focal-length lens. Image resolution and coverage is governed by sensor altitude above ground and, operationally, image resolution generally ranges from 20 cm to 2 m.
To date, UNEBirD has been used for crop and pasture imaging as well as projects as diverse as vulcanology (imaging extinct volcanoes), water quality (in rivers), riparian habitat mapping and archaeology.
