the AVIRIS (Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer) earth remote-sensing instrument scans the ground below while it flies aboard Twin Otter and ER-2 aircraft. Its 224 wavelength-sensitive detectors obtain spectral data which will be processed for display as images and to reveal information about the viewed area's composition. AVIRIS was developed for NASA at the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. AVIRIS first went into service in 1987, three years after the start of design and construction.