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1. Introduction 
en 
Beside spaceborne remote sensing airborne platforms have been 
identified as a promising technique for mapping land or water 
surfaces in different spectral bands. 
Airborne based systems on the one hand serve for the verification 
and 
of satellite systems (technological experiments, development of 
methods) and on the other hand they play an important role as a 
source of data for ecological research and monitoring, for terri 
torial planning, for geographic information systems (GIS). 
Modern scanner systems are an essential completion of the esta 
blished conventional aerial photography. 
P. ; 
Important advances of scanners are such features as digital 
output and extended spectral range (up to the thermal IB). At the 
same time, recording and processing of scanner data is a hard 
task because of the amount of data and its high rate. Also is the 
problem of geometric and radiometric correction far from perfect 
solution. With regard to the complex airborne sensing system, 
described in /1/ to /5/, an experimental airborne aquisition and 
recording system (EFAS) has been developed by the IKF (Institute 
of Space Research, Berlin). EFAS (Experimentelles Flugzeug- 
Aufnahme System) operates in the thermal infrared spectral band 
Bum to 14um (TIR). The prime EFAS objectives are collection of 
data for development of preprocessing and interpretation methods. 
EFAS will contribute to environment research (waste water outflow 
opt i- 
ental 
was 
to rivers and seas, waste dumps, forest decline inventory, urban 
ecological systems) and agriculture (soil moisture estimation). 
This paper outlines the EFAS basic concept, it describes the IR- 
scanner and presents two variants of the airborne and the ground 
systems. The processing tasks and some experimental results are 
discussed. 
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with 
2. System Conception 
n of 
ds of 
light 
The EFAS basic concept is illustrated in fig.l. The main features 
are the following: 
owing 
sible 
t ions 
Draft 
- concentration on the thermal infrared (TIR) spectral range (8um 
to 14 urn); 
- recording simultaneously a panchromatic image in the VIS- 
ible/NIR spectral range (BANK) with high geometric resolution 
for reference by means of a camcorder or a metric aerial survey 
camera or a CCD-linear array pushbroom imager; 
- modular computer system or PC on board the aircraft for system 
control, image and auxiliary data processing and formatting; 
- digital data recorder (tape or harddisc) on board the aircraft; 
Dtion 
Bcial 
- real time colour display of EFAS-data (real time visualisati 
on) ; 
- recording aircraft flights data (attitude angles - roll, pitch, 
yaw, altitude and velocity);