Use of airborne hyperspectral data to estimate residual heavy metal contamination and acidification potential in the Guadiamar floodplain Andalusia, Spain after the Aznacollar mining accident

Thomas Kemper; Stefan Sommer

doi:10.1117/12.565626

22 October 2004 Use of airborne hyperspectral data to estimate residual heavy metal contamination and acidification potential in the Guadiamar floodplain Andalusia, Spain after the Aznacollar mining accident

Thomas Kemper, Stefan Sommer

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5574, Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring, GIS Applications, and Geology IV; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.565626
Event: Remote Sensing, 2004, Maspalomas, Canary Islands, Spain

Abstract

Field and airborne hyperspectral data was used to map residual contamination after a mining accident, by applying spectral mixture modelling. Test case was the Aznalcollar Mine (Southern Spain) accident, where heavy metal bearing sludge from a tailings pond was distributed over large areas of the Guadiamar flood plain. Although the sludge and the contaminated topsoils have been removed mechanically in the whole affected area, still high abundance of pyritic material remained on the ground. During dedicated field campaigns in two subsequent years soil samples were collected for geochemical and spectral laboratory analysis and spectral field measurements were carried out in parallel to data acquisition with the HyMap sensor. A Variable Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis (VMESMA) tool was used providing possibilities of multiple endmember unmixing, aiming to estimate the quantities and distribution of the remaining tailings material. A spectrally based zonal partition of the area was introduced to allow the application of different submodels to the selected areas. Based on an iterative feedback process, the unmixing performance could be improved in each stage until an optimum level was reached. The sludge abundances obtained by unmixing the hyperspectral spectral data were confirmed by the field observations and chemical measurements of samples taken in the area. The semi-quantitative sludge abundances of residual pyritic material could be transformed into quantitative information for an assessment of acidification risk and distribution of residual heavy metal contamination based on an artificial mixture experiment. The unmixing of the second year images allowed identification of secondary minerals of pyrite as indicators of pyrite oxidation and associated acidification.

Citation Download Citation

Thomas Kemper and Stefan Sommer "Use of airborne hyperspectral data to estimate residual heavy metal contamination and acidification potential in the Guadiamar floodplain Andalusia, Spain after the Aznacollar mining accident", Proc. SPIE 5574, Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring, GIS Applications, and Geology IV, (22 October 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.565626

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available