Classic designs of hyperspectral instrumentation densely sample the spatial and spectral information of the scene of interest. Data may be compressed after the acquisition. In this paper we... Show moreClassic designs of hyperspectral instrumentation densely sample the spatial and spectral information of the scene of interest. Data may be compressed after the acquisition. In this paper we introduce a framework for the design of an optimized, micro-patterned snapshot hyperspectral imager that acquires an optimized subset of the spatial and spectral information in the scene. The data is thereby compressed already at the sensor level, but can be restored to the full hyperspectral data cube by the jointly optimized reconstructor. This framework is implemented with TensorFlow and makes use of its automatic differentiation for the joint optimization of the layout of the micro-patterned filter array as well as the reconstructor. We explore the achievable compression ratio for different numbers of filter passbands, number of scanning frames, and filter layouts using data collected by the Hyperscout instrument. We show resulting instrument designs that take snapshot measurements without losing significant information while reducing the data volume, acquisition time, or detector space by a factor of 40 as compared to classic, dense sampling. The joint optimization of a compressive hyperspectral imager design and the accompanying reconstructor provides an avenue to substantially reduce the data volume from hyperspectral imagers. Show less
Hosseinirad, M.; Tabatabaei, F.; Raouf Hajar Zarrin, M.; Roshan, M. 2023
The number of women and underrepresented individuals workingin science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)fieldsdoes not reflect the diversity of our societies. Even if children havean... Show moreThe number of women and underrepresented individuals workingin science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)fieldsdoes not reflect the diversity of our societies. Even if children havean interest in STEM, they may not consider choosing a study orcareer in that direction if their perception is that they would notbelong in science. This study examines the effects of a STEMlesson series aimed at inclusivity and diversity on children’sperception and sense of belonging in space science. Before andafter the lesson series, childrenfilled out a questionnaire aimed ateliciting their perception of space science and space scientists.After the lessons, a subsample of children was interviewed aboutthe effects of the lesson series on the children’s perception andsense of belonging regarding space science. Six months after thelast lesson took place, children from two classesfilled out a shortsurvey with open questions to measure retention. The results ofthis study showed that the lesson series had a significant impacton children’s perception of space scientists, and that theimplementation of the lessons facilitated thinking about (a futurein) space science. This lesson series has succeeded in changingchildren’s perception of space scientists as a diverse andinternational group of people. Show less