SPI imaging prospects for diffuse Galactic continuum hard X-rays.

The performance of the INTEGRAL Spectrometer SPI for large-scale imaging of the Galactic diffuse continuum emission has been studied. Simulations of l ong-term survey data have been made based on the computed SPI response and background estimates for Galactic emission based on OSSE results. Since for continuum emission the background in a wide energy band is much larger tha n for narrow lines such as 511 keV or Al-26, the background is larger; howe ver this is compensated by the higher intensity of the Galactic continuum. Expected results for the 200 - 400 keV band are presented.