Imaging sepctroscopy: A new screening tool for mapping acidic mine waste

摘要

Imaging spectroscopy is a relatively new remote sensing tool that provides a rapid method to screen entire mining districts for potential sources of surface acid drainage. An imaging spectrometer known as the Airborne Visible/InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer (VIRIS) measures light reflected from the surface in 224 spectral channels from 0.4 - 2.5 mu m. Spectral data from this instrument were used to evaluate mine waste at the California Gilch Superfunds ite near leadville, Colorado. here, the process of pyritie oxidation at the surface produces acidic water that is gradually neutralized as it drains away from mine waste, depositing a central jarosite zone surrounded by a jarosite + goethite zone, in turn surrounded by a goethite zone with a discontinuous hematite rim zone.