HYSPIRI PREPARATORY DATA FOR ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

The Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) is a proposed NASA satellite mission that would acquire visible to short wave infrared (VSWIR) imaging data in 10 nm contiguous spectral bands from 380 to 2500 nm and seven moderately broad band multispectral thermal infrared (TIR) images between 8 and 12 μm. The instruments have a planned spatial resolution of 30 or 60 m at nadir (hyspiri.jpl.nasa.gov). As part of a series of preparatory data collects, large regions of California, USA were observed in 2013 and 2014 using the Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) and MODIS/ASTER (MASTER) airborne simulator instruments (http://hyspiri.jpl.nasa.gov/airborne). Our group is funded to use these data to establish the utility of HyspIRI in exploration for renewable energy and critical mineral resources, determining the landscape impacts of the development of large scale renewable and traditional fossil energy systems, and assessment of natural hazards associated with geologically recent volcanic activity. Our work focuses on three regions in the broad flight corridors in California: 1) the region surrounding the Salton Sea, 2) Leviathan Mine, an acid mine drainage superfund site near the California-Nevada border, and 3) the recent volcanic sequence from Mono Crater south to the Long Valley caldera along the eastern Sierra Nevada. We have demonstrated the ability to identify and map relevant surface mineralogy at a range of locations. The high spectral fidelity of the proposed HyspIRI instrument allows characterization of diagnostic mineral features associated with hydrothermal systems, acid alteration, and surface weathering.