The need for compact , high - performance imaging spectrometers that span an application space from satellite imagery to food safety has never been higher . In this data - driven world , consumers want to know more about the chemicals in their food or how to precisely match the paint color on their living room wall . Companies need fast , reliable methods of product inspection with high spatial and spectral resolution , necessitating imaging spectrometer instrumentation . A pushbroom imaging spectrometer images a slit onto a 2D detector array , where the length ( longest dimension ) of the slit sets the full field of view ( FOV ) of the spectrometer and lies along one of the dimensions of the detector array , while the spectral dispersion created by the grating spreads along the orthogonal dimension , along which the width ( smallest dimension ) of the slit is imaged . An increase in system requirements for spectral range and resolution , compactness , and FOV of spectrometers has motivated the emergence of technologies and applications in hyperspectral imaging .