Methods and apparatus for producing topocompositional images

A method of forming a topocompositional image of a remote inanimate object or surface comprising:

• providing an object or surface to be imaged;
• causing a beam to interact with the object or surface to be imaged;
• detecting emissions caused by the interaction of the beam and the object or surface to be imaged;
• using the detected emissions to generate a topocompositional image of the object or surface, the topocompositional image having both topographical and compositional components, wherein both the topographical and compositional components are at least partially determined using the detected emissions.

A method of forming a topocompositional image of a remote inanimate object or surface comprising:

• providing an object or surface to be imaged, the object or surface comprising a plurality of points;
• providing at least one beam source and sequentially applying a beam from the at least one beam source to each of the plurality of points;
• using at least one sensor to detect emissions caused by the beam being applied to each of the plurality of points;
• and
• using the detected emissions to generate a topocompositional image of the object or surface, the topocompositional image having both topographical and compositional components, wherein both the topographical and compositional components are at least partially determined using the detected emissions;
• wherein the object or surface to be imaged at least twelve inches away from both the at least one beam source and at least one sensor.