MONITORING URANIUM MINING AND PROCESSING SITES: SOME FINDINGS FROM AN AIRBORNE HYPERSPECTRAL SURVEY OF URANIUM MINING LEGACIES UNDER REHABILITATION

摘要

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 ImagingSpectrometer. One area of interest was located next to Zwickau/Saxony at the Wismut uraniummining legacies under rehabilitation. Simultaneous to image acquisition, the surface reflectance wasmeasured in the investigation site using a field spectrometer, and soil and vegetation samples werecollected and subsequently analyzed by mass spectrometry. The objective of the study was to assessthe potential of hyperspectral imagery analysis for detecting directional or diffuse environmentalcontaminations due to uranium mining and processing. The first project phase was intended toevaluate new hyperspectral data classifiers and change detection methods. The second project phaseaimed to integrate hyperspectral remote sensing and the in-situ measurements by applyingtraditional and new supervised hyperspectral classifiers. Though intended for environmentalmonitoring purposes, the field study provided also some implications on safeguards issues withregard to uranium mining and processing, such as the verification of Stateson declarations and theidentification of undeclared activities. The given paper reports on the acquisition of airborne and insitudata, presents methods used and investigations in the first project phase, and derives somepreliminary conclusions from it.