Year
2010
Abstract
In preparation of the EnMAP mission, the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DLR/DFD) carried out an airborne hyperspectral campaign in summer 2009 using the HyMap Imaging Spectrometer. One area of interest was located next to Zwickau/Saxony at the Wismut uranium mining legacies under rehabilitation. Simultaneous to image acquisition, the surface reflectance was measured in the investigation site using a field spectrometer, and soil and vegetation samples were collected and subsequently analyzed by mass spectrometry. The objective of the study was to assess the potential of hyperspectral imagery analysis for detecting directional or diffuse environmental contaminations due to uranium mining and processing. The first project phase was intended to evaluate new hyperspectral data classifiers and change detection methods. The second project phase aimed to integrate hyperspectral remote sensing and the in-situ measurements by applying traditional and new supervised hyperspectral classifiers. Though intended for environmental monitoring purposes, the field study provided also some implications on safeguards issues with regard to uranium mining and processing, such as the verification of States¶ declarations and the identification of undeclared activities. The given paper reports on the acquisition of airborne and in- situ data, presents methods used and investigations in the first project phase, and derives some preliminary conclusions from it.