See originals:

1. http://gisgeography.com/multispectral-vs-hyperspectral-imagery-explained/ 

2. http://www.asdi.com/applications/remote-sensing/spectral-remote-sensing

Multispectral and hyperspectral sensors give the power to see the visible, infrared and ultraviolet spectra by measuring the reflected electromagnetic (EM) radiation from the objects within these regions.

The main differences between multispectral and hyperspectral are the number of bands and how narrow the bands are.

Multispectral sensors generally measure 3 -10 different bands in each pixel of the images they produce.

An example of a multispectral sensor is Landsat-8. Landsat-8 produces 11 images with the following bands:

Band 1: Coastal aerosol (0.43-0.45 um)
Band 2: Blue (0.45-0.51 um)
Band 3: Green (0.53-0.59 um)
Band 4: Red (0.64-0.67 um)
Band 5: Near infrared NIR (0.85-0.88 um)
Band 6: Short-wave Infrared SWIR 1 (1.57-1.65 um)
Band 7: Short-wave Infrared SWIR 2 (2.11-2.29 um)
Band 8: Panchromatic 全色(0.50-0.68 um)
Band 9: Cirrus 红外线卷云(1.36-1.38 um)
Band 10: Thermal Infrared TIRS 1 (10.60-11.19 um)
Band 11: Thermal Infrared TIRS 2 (11.50-12.51 um)

Hyperspectral sensors measure reflected EM energy in hundreds of narrower bands than multispectral sensors.

An example of a hyperspectral sensor is NASA's Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS). AVIRIS delivers 224 contiguous channels with wavelengths from 0.4 um to 2.5 um. contiguous: next to or touching another, ussually similar, thing. （连续的；邻近的；接触的）

Multispectral VS Hyperspectral

The numerous narrow bands of hyperspectral sensors provide contiguous spectral measurements across the entire EM spctrum and therefore are more sensitive to subtle variations in reflected energy and able to give better capability to see the unseen compared to multispectral images. subtle: small but important. For instance, multispectral imagery can be used to map forested areas, while hyperspectral imagery can be used to map tree species within the forest.