The Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO™) environmental littoral imaging from the International Space Station

The Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO™), launched to the International Space Station in September 2009, is the first spaceborne hyperspectral imager optimized for environmental characterization of the coastal ocean. Building on the heritage of airborne hyperspectral imagers, HICO™ combines high signal-to-noise ratio, contiguous 10 nm wide spectral channels over the range 400 to 900 nm, and a scene size of 42 × 190 km to capture the scale of coastal dynamics. HICO™ image data is being exploited to produce maps of coastal ocean properties including bathymetry, in-water suspended and dissolved matter, and bottom characteristics, offering a new remote sensing capability for coastal environments worldwide. In this paper we discuss the development and performance characteristics of the HICO™ imager, and present example HICO™ data products.