EPSCoR hyperspectral imaging video featured on national television

April 24, 2020

University Relations

A line drawing, apparently from hyperspectral imaging, showing a small plane flying over a mountain and tundra landscapeAn animated introduction to hyperspectral imaging produced by Alaska NSF EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) is being distributed for nationwide television by the National Science Foundation.

The five-minute video was produced by EPSCoR data visualization specialists Cassidy Phillips and Naomi Hutchquist, with assistance from EPSCoR researchers. The piece describes how hyperspectral remote sensing works and how EPSCoR is using the technology to improve vegetation maps of the Alaska boreal forest. The research is part of Fire and Ice, a five-year project studying climate-driven changes to boreal forest fires and to marine life in the nearshore Gulf of Alaska.

The National Science Foundation has distributed the video over a number of different platforms. Last year it was posted online in their multimedia gallery and on their Science Zone video app. More recently it was included in the NSF’s “Dispatches from the Cutting Edge” program, which is distributed to community TV stations across the country. The NSF also now plans to include the video in a package of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programming that will be distributed to commercial television stations nationwide.

For more information, contact Tom Moran at tmoran3@alaska.edu or 474-5581.