Panchromatic
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Panchromatic is a term describing a type of photographic film that is sensitive to all wavelengths of visible light. A panchromatic film therefore produces a realistic color image of a scene. Almost all modern photographic film is panchromatic, but some types are orthochromatic and are not sensitive to certain wavelengths of light.
---
Panchromatic also refers to scientific or technical images which contain information from many discrete wavelength bands. It typically refers to an image which is either realistically colored, or which has been built up from several narrowband images taken in widely different wavelengths. In remote sensing applications, such an image is usually of a higher resolution than the images of individual wavelength bands, and the technique of combining these images is used in image composites to boost clarity or as a reference for further analysis. This is produced using dedicated equipment aboard earth observation satellites, such as France's SPOT or the commercial IKONOS.
