Spectral enhancement of sebass hyperspectral data and its application in mapping of ultramafic rocks

Airborne SEBASS data (measuring hyperspectral thermal emissivity) was acquired and analyzed to map the spatial distribution of ultramafic rocks in remote areas of the Cape Smith greenstone Belt in Nunavik, Northern Quebec, Canada. Spectral analysis in the wavelet domain was developed to address technical issues commonly encountered in these data, namely noise reduction and minimization of atmospheric and surface temperature effects. Mapping of rock units was conducted using the spectral angle mapper applied to image endmembers extracted during wavelet analysis. The endmembers largely represent a suite of minerals validated with X-Ray Diffraction analysis and spectral measurement of rock samples.