Fundamentals
A plurality of investigations has proven that mineral identification from aircraft has become feasible by use of advanced high spectral resolving sensors. Great efforts were undertaken in calibrating instruments, and to elaborate correction procedures needed to handle insolation characteristics and absorption features introduced by atmospheric gases.
Spectral features of soils and rocks, especially their single components, the minerals, are the main targets of imaging spectroscopy. In the reflective domain it is possible to identify feature of minerals containing molecules or anions like OH-, H2O or CO32-. This includes the phyllosilicates, most sorosilicates, the hydroxides, some sulphates, the amphiboles and the carbonates. Using bands in the thermal infrared, tectosilicates as the main constituents in Earth's surface can be characterized. Concerning vegetational targets, initial stress phenomena and distinct spectral features of pigments and lignine can be analyzed.
Research in this section is mainly focused on developing new and automatic methods for data evaluation and to analyze the influence of external (lithobionts, etc.) and internal (opaque constituents, etc.) parameters on the spectral behavior of pure minerals.
