Multispectral imaging is an optical acquisition method that records scene radiance or reflectance in multiple discrete spectral bands, typically spanning the visible, near-infrared, and sometimes shortwave infrared regions. Using bandpass filters, tunable filters, or sensor arrays with spectrally selective elements, it generates co-registered images where each band captures wavelength-dependent material properties. Quantitative analysis of these bands enables spectral feature extraction, classification, and segmentation based on differences in absorption, scattering, or fluorescence. In research, multispectral imaging is applied to non-destructive assessment, tissue characterization, remote sensing, and cultural heritage analysis, often serving as a lower-complexity, higher-throughput alternative to full hyperspectral imaging.
Electrical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated the fastest pyroelectric photodetector to date, which works by absorbing heat generated by incoming light. Capable of capturing light from the entire electromagnetic ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 4, 2026
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Every winter, thousands of tourists travel to high-latitude regions like Scandinavia, Canada, and Alaska hoping to see the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. Vincent Ledvina, an aurora guide and Ph.D. student in space physics ...
Astronomy
Feb 24, 2026
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Wildfires and power outages caused by vegetation near powerlines have contributed to some of the state's most destructive fires.
Environment
Feb 20, 2026
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23
NASA's Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) was built for the ambitious purpose of performing an all-sky survey. The data it collects from more than 450 million ...
Astronomy
Feb 11, 2026
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44
How do the different parts of an adult plant communicate with each other when it suffers an injury, is waterlogged, burnt or exposed to environmental stress? Today we can answer this question thanks to an innovative optical ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 11, 2026
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A research team from the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIRCAS) has developed a new method combining deep learning with physical radiative transfer modeling to improve the retrieval ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 2, 2026
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Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have created a new method that more than doubles computer processing speeds while using 75% less memory to analyze plant imaging data. The advance removes ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jan 29, 2026
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After more than 10 years in orbit, the first Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, Sentinel-2A, is still finding new ways to contribute to Earth observation. With its younger siblings, Sentinel-2B and Sentinel-2C, now leading ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 15, 2026
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NASA's SPHEREx Observatory has mapped the entire sky in 102 infrared colors, as seen here in this image released on Dec. 18, 2025. This image features a selection of colors emitted primarily by stars (blue, green, and white), ...
Astronomy
Jan 6, 2026
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39
Monitoring forest health typically relies on remote sensing tools such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR), radar, and multispectral photography. While radar and LiDAR penetrate canopies to reveal structure, they struggle ...
Environment
Jan 5, 2026
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