Project Overview
We are a group of interdisciplinary scientists engaged in studying the Earth's geology and biological ecosystems through the eyes of hyperspectral remote sensing instruments. Our primary working group consists of geologists, biologists, and a physicist. The past three years have seen the growth of collaborations with Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL), the United States Geological Survey-Long Valley Observatory (USGS-LVO), the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET) administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of New Hampshire, HyVista Corporation, Analytical Imaging and Geophysics (AIG), and Chevron.
We are focused on taking hyperspectral imaging beyond the initial mapping phase and into the analysis and synthesis of hyperspectral information with other forms of remote sensing, geological, and biological data. In other words, it is the application of this hyperspectral data source that interests us most, rather than the technological development of sensors and processing algorithms. The gap between ecosystem and hazard managment agencies and those scientists working in the remote sensing field can be quite wide. We are working within this gap.
The range of questions we are addressing with hyperspectral data are well represented by our varied field sites. The groups initial directive was centered on geothermal resource studies in both Long Valley Caldera, eastern CA and The Geysers, northern CA beginning in the fall of 1997. Our focus widened with the inception of our estuarine studies in Elkhorn Slough, central CA beginning in the spring of 1998. The focus widened once again beginning in July of 1999 to include coral reef imaging spectroscopy for ecological applications in both Hawai'i and Fiji.
