French aerospace research agency Onera will be displaying Sysiphe, a spectral imaging system that combines very high spatial and spectral resolution. Onera says that the system will provide a baseline for the design of future operational defence intelligence systems.

Sysiphe (Système Spectro-Imageur de mesure des Propriétés Hyperspectrales Embarqués, or onboard spectral imaging system for measuring hyperspectral properties) is an airborne data-gathering system that delivers hyperspectral images, from the visible to the infrared band.

The Sysiphe system comprises two airborne instruments: Hyspex Odin, developed by Norway, covers the visible and near-infrared bands, while Sieleters, designed and built by the French agency, covers the medium-wave IR II (MWIR) and long-wave IR III (LWIR) bands. The instruments have been operational since September 2013.

Onera is making Sysiphe available to the entire aerospace and defence industry, allowing companies to capitalise on the system's advantages for a wide range of applications, including:

• target identification, even through camouflage;


• target/decoy discrimination;


• detection and characterization of liquid, solid or gaseous effluents.

According to Onera, the system’s performance is unrivaled in Europe: a 500m swath with 50cm spatial resolution, in over 500 bandwidths. Onera has also developed the ground data processing and archiving system, and deploys across-the-board expertise, from instrument design to image calibration. Paving the way for future developments, Sysiphe provides the data needed to validate Onera's computation codes.