Spectral and Polarimetric Imagery Collection Experiment (SPICE) Longwave Infrared Spectral Dataset

: This report summarizes our observations using the longwave infrared (LWIR) hyperspectral data subset of the Spectral and Polarimetric Imagery Collection Experiment (SPICE) dataset, which emphasizes the inherent challenges associated with applying autonomous spectral pattern recognition methods to LWIR hyperspectral imagery, as well as data quality and qualitative validation of expected atmospheric spectral features. SPICE is a collaborative effort between the US Army Research Laboratory, US Army Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center, and the US Air Force Institute of Technology. It focused on the long-term LWIR hyperspectral and polarimetric data collection of a target site, under various weather and non-ideal conditions, and exploitation of this dataset for pattern recognition tasks. We concluded from this effort that the quality of SPICE hyperspectral LWIR data is categorically comparable to other datasets recorded by a different sensor of similar specifications and is adequate for algorithmic research. The vast dataset and associated ground-truth information are a great asset for research.