Airborne Hyperspectral Survey of Afghanistan 

2007: Flight Line Planning and HyMap Data 

Collection 

By Raymond F. Kokaly, Trude V.V. King, and K. Eric Livo 

Open-File Report 2008–1235 

USGS Afghanistan Project Product No. 186 

U.S. Department of the Interior 

U.S. Geological Survey 
U.S. Department of the Interior 

DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Secretary 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Mark D. Myers, Director 

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2008 

For product and ordering information: 

World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod 

Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS 

For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, 

its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: 

World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov 

Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS 

Suggested citation: 

Kokaly, R.F., King, T.V.V., and Livo, K.E., 2008, Airborne Hyperspectral Survey of Afghanistan 

2007: Flight Line Planning and HyMap Data Collection: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 

2008-1235, 14 p. 

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply 

endorsement by the U.S. Government. 

Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual 

copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report. 

ii
Contents 

Contents....................................................................................................................................... iii

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................1

Background...................................................................................................................................1

Flight Line Planning.......................................................................................................................2

HyMap Data Collection in 2007.....................................................................................................5

Digital Files..................................................................................................................................14

Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................14

References Cited ........................................................................................................................14

Figures 

Figure 1. Planned USGS Afghanistan 2007 flight lines. ...............................................................4

Figure 2. Actually flown USGS Afghanistan 2007 flight lines........................................................6

Tables 

Table 1. HyMap sensor characteristics.........................................................................................2

Table 2. Constraints used for flight line planning. .........................................................................3

Table 3. Coordinates and characteristics of HyMap lines flown in 2007. ......................................7

Conversion Factors 

SI to Inch/Pound 

Multiply By To obtain 

meter (m) 3.281 foot (ft) 

kilometer (km) 0.6214 mile (mi) 

kilometer (km) 0.5400 mile, nautical (nmi) 

square kilometer (km2

) 0.3861 square mile (mi2) 

kilometer per hour (km/h) 0.5400 knots (kts) 

kilometer per hour (km/h) 0.6214 mile per hour (mi/h) 

Vertical coordinate information is referenced to the “North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88)”. 

Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the “WGS Datum of 1984 (WGS 84)”. 

Altitude, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum. 

iii

Airborne Hyperspectral Survey of 

Afghanistan 2007: Flight Line Planning and 

HyMap Data Collection 

By Raymond F. Kokaly,1 Trude V.V. King, and K. Eric Livo 

Introduction 

Hyperspectral remote sensing data were acquired over Afghanistan with the HyMap 

imaging spectrometer (Cocks and others, 1998) operating on the WB–57 high altitude NASA 

research aircraft (http://jsc-aircraft-ops.jsc.nasa.gov/wb57/index.html). These data were acquired 

during the interval of August 22, 2007 to October 2, 2007, as part of the United States Geological 

Survey (USGS) project “Oil and Gas Resources Assessment of the Katawaz and Helmand Basins”. 

A total of 218 flight lines of hyperspectral remote sensing data were collected over the country. 

This report describes the planning of the airborne survey and the flight lines that were flown. 

Included with this report are digital files of the nadir tracks of the flight lines, including a map of 

the labeled flight lines and corresponding vector shape files for geographic information systems 

(GIS). 

Background 

The USGS received funds in 2005 from the government of Afghanistan to support the 

acquisition of new airborne geophysical (gravity and magnetics) and hyperspectral remote sensing 

datasets. These datasets were judged to be critical to assessment activities supported by the United 

States Agency for International Development (USAID). These assessments include coal, water, 

minerals, and earthquake hazards, as well as southern Afghanistan oil and gas basins in Katawaz 

and Helmand provinces. The geophysical and remote sensing data will be used to characterize the 

surface and subsurface rock composition, properties, and structure. They are baseline data needed 

for resource and hazard assessments and will support and expedite the decision making processes 

necessary for revitalization of the economic sector of Afghanistan. The airborne geophysical 

survey was conducted in the summer of 2006. Basic processing of the gravity and magnetic data 

has been completed (Ashan and others 2007; 2008). 

Imaging spectrometers, which provide hyperspectral remote sensing data, measure the 

reflectance of light from the Earth’s surface (Clark and others, 2003). Reflectance spectra can be 

interpreted to identify specific chemical transitions and molecular bonds and, thus, provide 

compositional information about specific materials and minerals occurring at the surface where 

physical- and chemical-weathering processes are active. Using well-characterized laboratory 

spectral databases as reference "standards," the USGS has conducted numerous remote sensing 

studies to determine the mineral composition of rocks and soils and map the distribution of 

minerals and vegetation on the Earth’s surface (for example, Clark and others, 2003; Kokaly and 

others, 2003). 

 

1

 Raymond F. Kokaly, USGS, MS 973 Box 25046, Denver Fed Center, Denver CO 80225, USA. raymond@usgs.gov 

1
Hyperspectral remote sensing data collected in Afghanistan will be analyzed to produce 

thematic maps showing the distribution of selected minerals and vegetation, which will help define 

areas potentially hosting mineral deposits and will have applications in hazard, hydrologic, and 

infrastructure assessments. The HyMap imaging spectrometer (Cocks and others, 1998) was flown 

in Afghanistan from August 22 to October 2, 2007. HyMap has 512 cross-track pixels and covers 

the wavelength range 0.43 to 2.48 microns in 128 channels. Table 1 shows the nominal spectral 

characteristics of the four detectors in this sensor. 

Table 1. HyMap sensor characteristics 

Wavelength 

Range (nm) 

Number of 

Channels 

Average Sampling 

Interval (nm) 

Spectral Bandpass (nm) 

average (min to max) Detector 

VNIR1430 – 891 32 15 16 (13 to 20) 

NIR2 881 – 1344 32 15 16 (14 to 17) 

SWIR13 1401 – 1810 32 13 14 (13 to 16) 

SWIR24 1948 – 2480 32 17 20 (19 to 22) 

1

Visible and Near-InfraRed 2Near-InfraRed 3ShortWave InfraRed detector 1 4ShortWave InfraRed detector 2 

Flight Line Planning 

Prior to data collection, start and stop coordinates (in latitude and longitude) for each flight 

line were planned using the software “Survey Planning for Airborne Imaging Spectrometers” 

(SPAIS, pronounced “space”), a set of custom USGS programs written for the ENVI/IDL software 

system (ITT, 2007). As shown in Figure 1, flight lines were planned in north-south orientation. 

Characteristics of the HyMap sensor and the WB–57 aircraft, along with aircraft basing and 

political-boundary considerations, placed constraints on the design of the flight lines and the 

conduct of the airborne survey (table 2). With respect to the HyMap sensor, the principal 

constraints on flight line configuration came from the field of view of the sensor, which controls 

the width of the data swath, and the hold times of the liquid nitrogen dewars, which limit the hours 

of operation per flight. Aircraft characteristics also placed constraints on flight line planning, 

principally from the operational altitude, nominal ground speed, and maximum flight duration. 

Additional constraints were placed on the planning of lines as follows. First, the inertial 

measurement unit, part of the HyMap system, can drift over time for straight and level flight lines, 

which restricts the flight line durations to a maximum of approximately 20 minutes. Near political 

borders, buffer zones were established to allow ample room for the WB–57 aircraft to make turns. 

A buffer zone of 46.3 km (25 nmi) was used for all borders except the border with Iran, for which a 

64.8 km (35 nmi) buffer was used. The buffered area to be covered by HyMap flight lines, shown 

by the thin yellow outline in Figure 1, was 438,766 km2

. 

Flight lines were laid out beginning in the west and moving to the east. The area covered by 

the sensor as it flies along the nadir track of the flight line is called the swath. The width of the 

swath varies as a function of surface elevation. The swath is narrower at higher elevations and the 

distances to the edges of the swath on either side of the nadir track are affected by differences in 

topography on either side. For the hyperspectral survey in Afghanistan, adjacent lines were 

planned with a minimum overlap of 40 percent of the “half-swath width” in order to account for 

these effects. Starting from the first flight line on the western side of the country, the overlap 

distance used by the SPAIS program to place each subsequent flight line came from the highest 

elevation at the eastern edge of the swath, which is the narrowest part of the eastern half of the 

2
swath. For the 512 pixel swath of HyMap, this resulted in approximately 102 pixels of overlap at 

the highest elevation portions between adjacent flight lines. Determining the spacing in this 

manner allowed the lines to be spaced closer over high elevation areas of the country where the 

swaths are narrow and “spaced” wider at low elevations where the swaths are wider. In addition, 

using the percentage of the half-swath width that lies to the east guaranteed a minimum number of 

overlapping pixels, while keeping the spacing independent of the elevation effects on the width of 

the western half of the swath. 

Table 2. Constraints used for flight line planning 

Source of 

Constraint 

Constraint 

Parameter Constraint Value Impact of Constrain 

Field of View 61.4° 

Determines the swath width of 16.3 km using 

average country elevation (1,458 m) and nominal 

operating altitude 

HyMap Sensor 

Dewar Hold 

Time (from 

takeoff) 

5 hours Limits the number of flight lines that can be flown 

per sortie 

IFOV1 2.5 mrad along track 

Defines the pixel size in along track direction, which 

can limit the ground speed, for a given scan rate, 

in order to avoid undersampling in the along track 

direction 

Scan Rate 8 Hz Determines the nominal along track pixel spacing of 

22.5 m using the nominal ground speed 

HyMap 

GPS/inertial 

measurement 

unit 

Max. Line 

Duration ~ 20 minutes Limits lines to ~ 220 km length using the nominal ground speed 

Nominal 

Operating 

Altitude 

15.24 km (50,000 ft) 

Determines the swath width of 16.3 km using 

average country elevation of 1,458 m and sensor 

field of view 

WB–57 Aircraft 

Nominal Ground 

Speed 648.2 km/h (350 kts) Determines the nominal along track spacing of 22.5 m using the given scan rate 

Max. Flight 

Duration 5.6 hours 

If less than the dewar hold time plus the ferry-out 

time, it limits the number of flight lines that can 

be collected 

Overlap Minimum 40 percent 

Applied to the narrowest part of the swath to the east 

of the flight line. Determines the flight line 

spacing. 

Flight line 

overlap 

Latitude/ 

Longitude 

31.50° N, 65.83° E, 

Kandahar Airfield, 

Afghanistan 

Coordinates of the airfield affect the number of lines 

that can be collected in each sortie, for example if 

located far from the collection area, the data 

collection time is reduced by the time it takes to 

ferry-in to the starting point of the data collection 

Airfield 

Location 

Border Buffer 

64.8 km (35 nmi) for 

Iranian border, 46.3 km 

(25 nmi) elsewhere 

Reduces the area covered and restricts flight lines to 

adhere to the buffer zone 

Political 

Considerations 

1

Instantaneous Field Of View 

3
The combination of sensor scan rate and aircraft ground speed defines the along track 

spacing. For the hyperspectral survey of Afghanistan, HyMap was set to a scan rate of 8 Hz and the 

WB–57 had an estimated ground speed of 648.2 km/h (350 kts). The combination of these values 

results in a 22.5 m along track pixel spacing at the average elevation of 1,458 m (4,783 ft) in 

Afghanistan. To avoid undersampling in the along-track direction the pixel size needs to exceed 

this value. For the HyMap/WB–57 combination, at the nominal operating altitude, the along-track 

pixel size is 34.5 m for this same average elevation. At the lowest elevation of 279 m (915 ft), the 

along-track pixel size is 37.4 m. At the highest elevation of 5,642 m (18,150 ft), the along-track 

pixel size is 24.0 m. Thus, according to our survey plan, undersampling in the along-track direction 

would be avoided and most of Afghanistan would be covered with significant scan line overlap. 

Figure 1. Planned USGS Afghanistan 2007 flight lines. Projection is Transverse Mercator, datum WGS–

84. Thick red line is the Afghanistan border. Yellow line is the border zone buffer line (25 nmi on all borders 

except for the Iranian border where the buffer is 35 nmi). 

Based in part on the above constraints, the country was divided into four “blocks” as 

defined by latitude (fig. 1). The southern-most block (A) covered the portion of the country below 

32 degrees north (N) latitude. Block (B) covered 32 to 34 degrees N latitude. Block C covered 34 

to 36 degrees N latitude. The northern-most block D covered the portion of the country above 36 

4
degrees N latitude. For each block, the SPAIS program was run using an 85 meter digital elevation 

model (DEM), the buffer zone constraints, the HyMap sensor characteristics, and the WB–57 

aircraft characteristics. To allow for overlap across blocks, an extra 3 km was added to the ends of 

each flight line, resulting in maximum lengths of 228 km (21 minutes flight time) for lines that 

would span a full 2 degrees of latitude. In Figure 1, the resulting 223 flight lines are depicted on a 

background Landsat image mosaic. These are the “standard data lines” for full country coverage of 

Afghanistan within our boundary buffer. The average planned flight line spacing was 11.5 km 

(minimum = 9.2 km, maximum = 13.8 km). The average swath width of the planned flight lines 

was 15.8 km (minimum = 11.7 km, maximum = 17.7 km). Additional flight lines, not depicted in 

Figure 1, were planned to pass over locations where field samples were collected and where 

measurements of field reflectance calibration sites were planned. These lines were designated 

“cross-calibration lines”. 

Output of the SPAIS flight line planning software includes an estimate of the number of 

flights needed to acquire these flight lines based on the coordinates of the airfield, the start/stop 

coordinates and lengths of the flight lines, the turn times (estimated at 7 minutes for the WB–57), 

and the duration of each flight day (constrained by dewar hold time and maximum aircraftoperating duration). For the 223 flight lines, the total number of flights (sorties) was estimated to 

be approximately 19. Factoring in 50 percent down time due to aircraft maintenance, sensor 

maintenance, and weather, the collection time to complete the airborne hyperspectral survey was 

estimated to be 29 days. 

HyMap Data Collection in 2007 

Over the course of 43 days and 28 flights, from August 22 to October 2, 2007, a total of 218 

flight lines of HyMap data were collected from the WB–57 aircraft. These flight lines include 207 

standard data lines and 11 cross-calibration lines (see Figure 2), totaling 39,546 km in line length. 

The total area of Afghanistan imaged was approximately 438,012 km2. 

The majority of flight lines were collected according to the plan in Figure 1, with the 

exception of block A and the western-most lines in blocks B-D. For the last six flights of the data 

collection, the remaining lines were re-planned with less overlap. The observed stability of the 

WB–57 aircraft, with respect to roll, pitch and yaw, facilitated our reduction in overlap. Original 

flight lines D004–026 were re-planned with 16 percent overlap, resulting in 3 fewer lines to cover 

with the re-programmed lines D004–023. Flight line D001 was not flown. Similarly, C001–023 

and B001–007 were re-planned with 14 percent overlap, reducing the number of flight lines needed 

to cover blocks C and B by 4 and 2, respectively. Originally planned lines A001 to 025 of block A 

were re-planned to lines A001–021 with 12 percent overlap. The eastern part of block A, originally 

covered by north-south lines A026–037, was re-planned to flight lines A022–028 and oriented 49.3 

degrees east of north. Three lines, A029–031, were added to cover the Chagai hills in southern 

Afghanistan. Very poor visibility caused by dust storms on the last sortie of the deployment 

resulted in lines A002–006 and A015–019 being shortened so that they do not extend to 30 degrees 

N latitude as planned. Eleven cross-calibration lines were flown. Part of cross-calibration line 

K001 fills the gap between standard data lines A023 and A024. 

5
Figure 2. Actually flown USGS Afghanistan 2007 flight lines. Projection is Transverse Mercator, datum 

WGS–84. Cyan line is the Afghanistan border. 

 

6
Compared to the flight line plan, the factors that were found to increase the number of 

sorties and days needed to actually complete the survey included: 

1) five down days due to sensor problems caused by operating at high altitude 

2) eight down days waiting for aircraft parts due in part to the difficulty of getting 

deliveries to the airfield 

3) vacuum loss in HyMap’s SWIR1 and SWIR2 dewars caused short collection times 

on two flights and led to two down days 

4) less than optimal collection for the first seven fights, due to sensor problems 

5) shorter than expected data collection times, measured from takeoff, that averaged 

4.4 hours 

On two occasions, right after detector dewars were vacuum pumped and when flight lines were 

located close to the Kandahar air field, data collection time reached the estimate of five hours used 

in the survey planning. During flights in Afghanistan, the actual altitudes and ground speeds were 

higher than originally planned. The mean altitude was 16.06 km (52,690 ft), minimum = 15.79 km 

(51,804 ft), maximum = 16.34 km (53,609 ft). The mean ground speed was 734.3 km/h (396.5 kts), 

minimum = 656.7 km/h (354.6 kts), maximum = 837.0 km/h (451.9 kts). 

The increase in average ground speed was 13.8 percent above the planned value; however, 

the average altitude increased only 5.4 percent over the planned value. As a result the along-track 

pixel spacing (which scales with ground speed) increased more than the along-track pixel size 

(which scales with altitude). The consequence of the higher increase in ground speed was some 

undersampling in the along-track direction. Based on a preliminary analysis of the ground speeds, 

altitudes, and surface elevations, undersampling is a possibility in the data collected over higher 

elevations in the country, above 3,500 meters (11,483 ft), which is approximately 5 percent of the 

area covered by HyMap. Above this elevation limit, the along-track pixel spacing is likely to 

exceed the along track pixel size by one to two meters. The worst undersampling appears to be for 

the eastern-most lines in blocks C and D, caused by the very high terrain combined with strong tail 

winds from the north that increased ground speed for south-bound flight lines. The lines with high 

ground speeds include: C064, C066, C068, and C070, covered on sortie 8; C072, C074, and C076, 

covered on sortie 13; and D042 and D044 covered on sortie 14. The interspersed odd-numbered 

lines had lower ground speeds and did not suffer from undersampling. Considering the shorter than 

expected data-collection times, the ability to collect more data lines on each flight with higher 

ground speeds was judged to outweigh the disadvantage of potential along-track undersampling at 

high elevations. 

The actual start and stop coordinates of all flown lines are given in Table 3, along with 

flight date, and time of collection. 

Table 3. Coordinates and characteristics of HyMap lines flown in 2007 

Sortie # Flight 

Date 

UTC1

Time of 

Collection 

hh:mm:ss 

Start 

Latitude 

Start 

Longitude 

Stop 

Latitude 

Stop 

Longitude 

Flight 

Line 

Name 

A001 28 10/2/2007 08:05:22 29.972124 62.580273 32.029545 62.579906 

A002 28 10/2/2007 08:27:05 32.027592 62.747765 30.275385 62.749393 

A003 28 10/2/2007 08:48:19 30.443548 62.918621 32.032040 62.918777 

A004 28 10/2/2007 09:07:44 32.027386 63.088913 30.345081 63.088116 

A005 28 10/2/2007 09:26:46 30.447092 63.261185 32.029652 63.257076 

7
A006 28 10/2/2007 09:46:32 32.028580 63.424465 30.280624 63.424503 

A007 26 9/30/2007 08:10:50 32.027447 63.592514 29.974766 63.591255 

A008 26 9/30/2007 08:34:21 29.971659 63.754513 32.028042 63.757092 

A009 26 9/30/2007 08:58:57 32.027325 63.923180 29.971437 63.922886 

A010 26 9/30/2007 09:23:23 29.974432 64.087555 32.029762 64.088921 

A011 26 9/30/2007 09:47:59 32.028687 64.256180 29.972521 64.254662 

A012 26 9/30/2007 10:12:25 29.988613 64.419830 32.029861 64.420807 

A013 26 9/30/2007 10:37:06 32.026783 64.587189 30.001612 64.586815 

A014 26 9/30/2007 11:00:56 29.988289 64.750656 32.055565 64.751846 

A015 28 10/2/2007 10:21:54 31.027197 64.916740 32.031624 64.916771 

A016 28 10/2/2007 10:35:15 32.027229 65.077225 31.061424 65.074799 

A017 28 10/2/2007 10:49:11 31.141773 65.233597 32.027760 65.233429 

A018 28 10/2/2007 11:04:55 32.024864 65.384918 30.803396 65.384506 

A019 28 10/2/2007 11:21:07 30.832409 65.542862 32.033409 65.540848 

A020 27 10/1/2007 10:56:41 30.108656 65.708885 32.027615 65.701218 

A021 27 10/1/2007 10:32:55 32.045490 65.863678 30.851093 65.860115 

A022 27 10/1/2007 10:21:23 31.842796 65.848572 32.001701 66.098869 

A023 27 10/1/2007 10:14:24 32.078110 66.441238 31.678572 65.868835 

A024 27 10/1/2007 10:02:07 31.320242 65.841537 32.000179 66.807167 

A025 27 10/1/2007 09:47:52 32.093502 67.168991 31.165438 65.868401 

A026 27 10/1/2007 09:31:01 30.930769 65.778038 32.005318 67.266472 

A027 27 10/1/2007 09:10:48 32.097301 67.622650 30.823099 65.867844 

A028 27 10/1/2007 08:48:42 30.573492 65.763512 31.995325 67.694946 

A029 27 10/1/2007 08:25:43 29.824646 63.309620 29.962446 64.906059 

A030 27 10/1/2007 08:08:06 29.842499 65.107857 29.684048 63.346123 

A031 27 10/1/2007 07:51:35 29.548759 63.333328 29.703384 65.040039 

B001 24 9/28/2007 09:38:07 34.073719 61.846031 31.978779 61.841583 

B002 24 9/28/2007 10:01:03 31.990074 62.011196 34.020382 62.000778 

B003 26 9/30/2007 06:52:34 34.020714 62.157555 31.970463 62.157871 

B004 26 9/30/2007 07:16:28 31.971947 62.312950 34.031094 62.314983 

B005 26 9/30/2007 07:40:06 34.028496 62.471642 31.964602 62.470657 

B008 19 9/21/2007 11:55:23 31.965862 62.629883 34.032043 62.629990 

B009 19 9/21/2007 11:31:41 34.035809 62.756809 31.965347 62.756985 

B010 19 9/21/2007 11:08:16 31.960194 62.879032 34.032303 62.878994 

B011 19 9/21/2007 10:44:43 34.037342 63.004124 31.965561 63.003975 

B012 19 9/21/2007 10:20:44 31.967615 63.126049 34.033459 63.127052 

8
B013 19 9/21/2007 09:56:45 34.031593 63.249424 31.965904 63.248993 

B014 19 9/21/2007 09:33:03 31.963531 63.369492 34.032837 63.370010 

B015 18 9/17/2007 09:10:44 31.953680 63.493484 34.022552 63.489296 

B016 18 9/17/2007 08:47:13 34.049267 63.610653 31.977661 63.609764 

B017 18 9/17/2007 08:22:55 31.961380 63.735371 34.024570 63.732059 

B018 18 9/17/2007 07:59:29 34.036983 63.853638 31.979948 63.854923 

B019 18 9/17/2007 07:35:22 31.960926 63.977417 34.022816 63.975140 

B020 18 9/17/2007 07:11:57 34.037266 64.092964 31.978275 64.092911 

B021 18 9/17/2007 06:47:40 31.962265 64.211426 34.021843 64.209358 

B022 18 9/17/2007 06:23:50 34.054237 64.329170 31.980976 64.328621 

B023 18 9/17/2007 05:59:26 31.961405 64.446785 34.021812 64.447472 

B024 18 9/17/2007 05:31:54 34.042450 64.568504 31.968777 64.567413 

B025 17 9/16/2007 10:28:45 34.018566 64.688416 31.967522 64.688866 

B026 17 9/16/2007 10:04:05 31.977324 64.816795 34.032730 64.816017 

B027 17 9/16/2007 09:40:27 34.023693 64.930069 31.968115 64.931831 

B028 17 9/16/2007 09:15:44 31.973734 65.055099 34.030422 65.052902 

B029 17 9/16/2007 08:51:48 34.031853 65.173698 31.969517 65.175034 

B030 17 9/16/2007 08:27:26 31.974377 65.298241 34.033195 65.298012 

B031 17 9/16/2007 08:03:11 34.045078 65.416481 31.970285 65.416939 

B032 17 9/16/2007 07:38:11 31.957541 65.535500 34.030056 65.535950 

B033 17 9/16/2007 07:13:44 34.045948 65.656242 31.972569 65.652023 

B034 16 9/15/2007 06:06:59 31.962019 65.781265 34.032764 65.781075 

B035 16 9/15/2007 05:43:05 34.036228 65.902313 31.968710 65.898941 

B036 15 9/14/2007 10:41:27 34.073910 66.014679 31.955479 66.017014 

B037 15 9/14/2007 10:18:37 31.957645 66.137566 34.085136 66.167717 

B038 15 9/14/2007 09:54:26 34.039577 66.262962 31.974222 66.263031 

B039 15 9/14/2007 09:29:41 31.960991 66.381187 34.029041 66.380928 

B040 15 9/14/2007 09:05:37 34.043987 66.498199 31.968033 66.499031 

B041 15 9/14/2007 08:41:51 31.954849 66.615425 34.159031 66.710320 

B042 15 9/14/2007 08:16:52 34.040115 66.730057 31.970829 66.730003 

B043 15 9/14/2007 07:52:15 31.960949 66.845978 34.026474 66.846092 

B044 15 9/14/2007 07:27:47 34.041088 66.959785 31.977633 66.959961 

B045 15 9/14/2007 07:03:23 31.958145 67.070793 34.027279 67.070961 

B046 15 9/14/2007 06:39:34 34.037300 67.187912 31.969109 67.184982 

B047 12 9/10/2007 08:07:27 34.034359 67.302505 31.978226 67.301079 

B048 7 9/5/2007 08:20:32 31.960108 67.417580 34.034946 67.416992 

9
B049 7 9/5/2007 07:55:18 34.034374 67.531105 31.967699 67.530991 

B050 7 9/5/2007 07:30:16 31.990335 67.639862 34.035908 67.639977 

B051 7 9/5/2007 07:06:18 34.034409 67.749138 32.062412 67.756004 

B052 6 9/4/2007 07:29:32 34.035351 67.868286 32.163132 67.867577 

B053 6 9/4/2007 07:06:48 32.216206 67.987816 34.028709 67.986679 

B054 6 9/4/2007 06:44:26 34.036575 68.102226 32.246082 68.101273 

B055 6 9/4/2007 06:22:14 32.267876 68.235542 34.025433 68.223923 

B056 5 9/3/2007 06:17:26 32.215542 68.341255 34.032124 68.341064 

B057 4 8/30/2007 09:49:16 34.026146 68.458267 32.240601 68.462700 

B058 4 8/30/2007 09:27:08 32.254524 68.579338 34.027958 68.584518 

B059 4 8/30/2007 09:06:26 34.017170 68.698341 32.235401 68.706764 

B060 4 8/30/2007 08:46:29 32.697247 68.833275 34.029049 68.828186 

B061 4 8/30/2007 08:29:59 34.027481 68.954880 32.969460 68.953506 

B062 4 8/30/2007 08:02:20 33.243706 69.085678 34.026875 69.079842 

B063 4 8/30/2007 07:51:07 34.024643 69.197723 33.371891 69.199028 

B064 4 8/30/2007 07:39:12 33.453495 69.319954 34.030514 69.320465 

C001 24 9/28/2007 09:18:45 34.825958 61.773487 33.979733 61.770069 

C002 24 9/28/2007 09:08:32 33.961853 61.940205 34.862396 61.936771 

C003 24 9/28/2007 08:58:20 34.763992 62.100616 33.980316 62.099567 

C004 24 9/28/2007 08:48:28 33.961834 62.258984 34.704079 62.259174 

C005 24 9/28/2007 08:38:05 34.771595 62.416279 33.978722 62.413094 

C006 24 9/28/2007 08:27:32 33.937008 62.568279 34.759651 62.567554 

C007 22 9/24/2007 10:14:44 34.819820 62.715614 33.981037 62.720055 

C008 22 9/24/2007 10:02:39 33.948025 62.868305 34.831459 62.867981 

C009 22 9/24/2007 09:50:33 34.969303 62.999454 33.978828 63.015675 

C010 22 9/24/2007 09:37:37 33.948086 63.153526 35.068981 63.161205 

C011 22 9/24/2007 09:24:48 35.031334 63.300545 33.978291 63.312309 

C012 22 9/24/2007 09:11:09 33.974232 63.472168 35.137058 63.460289 

C013 22 9/24/2007 08:38:11 33.963287 63.607651 35.341824 63.606987 

C014 22 9/24/2007 08:55:34 35.533375 63.743862 33.981762 63.752327 

C015 22 9/24/2007 08:02:20 33.962555 63.902443 35.569485 63.900078 

C016 22 9/24/2007 07:43:46 35.624142 64.046875 33.981892 64.047768 

C017 22 9/24/2007 07:25:05 33.961246 64.197830 35.596928 64.195198 

C018 22 9/24/2007 07:05:26 35.792370 64.342758 33.981247 64.348419 

C019 22 9/24/2007 06:45:33 33.936134 64.502312 35.856976 64.502899 

C024 11 9/9/2007 08:31:57 33.963821 64.621735 35.852337 64.618965

10
C025 11 9/9/2007 08:09:56 35.915565 64.740303 33.960503 64.744003

C026 11 9/9/2007 07:46:15 33.966904 64.870499 36.003956 64.870003 

C027 11 9/9/2007 07:22:02 36.031673 64.993401 33.962040 64.996010 

C028 11 9/9/2007 06:57:58 33.962017 65.123116 36.037430 65.120995 

C029 21 9/23/2007 09:09:54 33.988693 65.244972 36.035343 65.245033 

C030 21 9/23/2007 08:46:55 36.025578 65.366844 33.968071 65.366951 

C031 21 9/23/2007 08:23:37 33.973499 65.491280 36.032852 65.491013 

C032 21 9/23/2007 08:00:44 36.028469 65.614143 33.968647 65.615028 

C033 11 9/9/2007 06:32:24 36.037807 65.737656 33.962440 65.737930 

C034 11 9/9/2007 06:08:25 33.961876 65.859673 36.040932 65.858994 

C035 11 9/9/2007 05:44:13 36.036213 65.980080 33.960228 65.980026 

C036 11 9/9/2007 05:19:56 33.963936 66.099617 36.037277 66.099060 

C037 12 9/10/2007 07:40:08 36.026432 66.219009 33.977783 66.217773 

C038 12 9/10/2007 07:15:42 33.968300 66.338608 36.020088 66.336929 

C039 12 9/10/2007 06:51:24 36.033009 66.456566 33.979973 66.455017 

C040 12 9/10/2007 06:27:01 33.966454 66.569389 36.021202 66.567993 

C041 12 9/10/2007 06:02:55 36.024879 66.686974 33.970566 66.685280 

C042 12 9/10/2007 05:38:43 33.959511 66.800491 36.021374 66.799995 

C043 12 9/10/2007 05:14:07 36.035259 66.916679 33.977913 66.916389 

C044 12 9/10/2007 04:50:02 33.967941 67.040733 36.020798 67.036209 

C045 24 9/28/2007 06:51:33 33.922138 67.149673 36.021034 67.149040 

C046 10 9/8/2007 08:58:07 36.034557 67.268158 33.982590 67.268028 

C047 10 9/8/2007 08:32:14 33.971928 67.388229 36.024956 67.385963 

C048 10 9/8/2007 08:07:03 36.032448 67.497475 33.878624 67.516869 

C049 10 9/8/2007 07:39:58 33.966606 67.614281 36.022640 67.611954 

C050 10 9/8/2007 07:14:20 36.032021 67.721291 33.975346 67.721916 

C051 10 9/8/2007 06:47:19 33.968616 67.835541 35.983593 67.832886 

C052 10 9/8/2007 06:22:02 36.031750 67.944481 33.975319 67.943626 

C053 10 9/8/2007 05:57:01 33.966537 68.054497 36.024258 68.054222 

C054 9 9/7/2007 08:27:49 36.032814 68.167717 33.963730 68.169891 

C055 9 9/7/2007 08:03:02 33.964771 68.286201 36.038200 68.283905 

C056 9 9/7/2007 07:38:41 36.041737 68.393433 33.959732 68.395004 

C057 9 9/7/2007 07:13:49 33.967461 68.505005 36.038670 68.504883 

C058 9 9/7/2007 06:49:32 36.027294 68.618454 33.964317 68.618935 

C059 9 9/7/2007 06:24:20 33.969894 68.728615 36.037731 68.728973 

C060 21 9/23/2007 06:19:51 33.974651 68.835670 36.032604 68.835999 

11
C061 21 9/23/2007 06:43:49 36.024311 68.948006 33.968010 68.948051 

C062 20 9/22/2007 10:35:04 36.060242 69.059799 33.972347 69.061066 

C063 20 9/22/2007 06:56:50 33.948513 69.179649 36.018684 69.180855 

C064 8 9/6/2007 09:12:15 36.034111 69.292427 33.976345 69.290909 

C065 8 9/6/2007 08:49:15 34.116577 69.396584 36.034142 69.403320 

C066 8 9/6/2007 08:26:58 36.034088 69.517479 34.312187 69.515747 

C067 8 9/6/2007 08:05:52 34.384205 69.627655 36.022923 69.625130 

C068 8 9/6/2007 07:45:40 36.029507 69.734406 34.436829 69.731773 

C069 8 9/6/2007 07:25:41 34.452461 69.842880 36.022030 69.841980 

C070 8 9/6/2007 07:05:00 36.025917 69.955307 34.473240 69.949760 

C071 13 9/11/2007 06:59:49 34.425434 70.057816 36.025234 70.056938 

C072 13 9/11/2007 06:40:27 36.039825 70.161751 34.453491 70.161896 

C073 13 9/11/2007 06:20:31 34.410221 70.268425 36.025585 70.267952 

C074 13 9/11/2007 06:00:24 36.042034 70.372665 34.381947 70.373947 

C075 13 9/11/2007 05:39:38 34.354729 70.479584 36.026268 70.480026 

C076 13 9/11/2007 05:18:26 36.031044 70.581924 34.803314 70.581932 

C077 13 9/11/2007 05:01:05 34.896465 70.682137 36.021107 70.682961 

D002 21 9/23/2007 09:30:36 35.977406 65.193054 36.815323 65.185059 

D003 21 9/23/2007 09:42:51 36.820065 65.332977 35.968117 65.330963 

D004 24 9/28/2007 07:22:23 36.967743 65.807266 35.977993 65.816483 

D005 24 9/28/2007 07:34:31 35.946457 65.664787 36.835049 65.659393 

D006 24 9/28/2007 07:46:16 36.867546 65.506889 35.974480 65.499924 

D007 23 9/25/2007 09:47:15 35.972801 65.971336 36.967579 65.970078 

D008 23 9/25/2007 09:34:07 36.960533 66.141663 35.969398 66.139458 

D009 23 9/25/2007 09:20:37 35.974640 66.310165 36.973076 66.307739 

D010 23 9/25/2007 09:07:16 37.043182 66.483215 35.968658 66.476555 

D011 23 9/25/2007 08:54:18 35.969063 66.647987 36.986427 66.645226 

D012 23 9/25/2007 08:40:37 37.048958 66.818008 35.968498 66.812653 

D013 23 9/25/2007 08:27:39 35.973248 66.978271 36.923237 66.976875 

D014 23 9/25/2007 08:14:58 36.909061 67.149742 35.968372 67.144745 

D015 23 9/25/2007 08:02:44 35.973225 67.299774 36.764202 67.299339 

D016 23 9/25/2007 07:51:35 36.750862 67.461784 35.966202 67.455009 

D017 23 9/25/2007 07:40:32 35.973892 67.613243 36.651867 67.613396 

D018 23 9/25/2007 07:30:42 36.550720 67.772514 35.965866 67.770714 

D019 23 9/25/2007 07:21:28 35.970299 67.922676 36.515816 67.923050 

D020 23 9/25/2007 07:12:27 36.506676 68.083397 35.968170 68.082367 

12
D021 23 9/25/2007 07:02:54 35.967892 68.241600 36.546268 68.241829 

D022 23 9/25/2007 06:52:53 36.604259 68.392700 35.969311 68.391945 

D023 23 9/25/2007 06:41:56 35.981960 68.553070 36.670059 68.555145 

D027 20 9/22/2007 10:13:54 36.970470 68.704750 35.977234 68.702103 

D028 20 9/22/2007 10:02:06 35.958233 68.853256 36.903435 68.850182 

D029 20 9/22/2007 09:49:32 36.969379 68.997147 35.975246 68.992973 

D030 20 9/22/2007 09:37:53 35.952370 69.142433 36.880688 69.138664 

D031 20 9/22/2007 09:25:53 36.880169 69.275665 35.981827 69.273872 

D032 20 9/22/2007 09:14:44 35.956081 69.407875 36.785957 69.406990 

D033 20 9/22/2007 09:02:44 36.919914 69.529114 35.978775 69.525833 

D034 20 9/22/2007 08:49:27 35.952564 69.656891 36.817230 69.653267 

D035 20 9/22/2007 08:36:44 36.974911 69.756500 35.983692 69.765945 

D036 20 9/22/2007 08:23:46 35.943027 69.882103 37.035347 69.878685 

D037 20 9/22/2007 08:08:58 37.178722 69.995522 35.979954 69.989891 

D038 20 9/22/2007 07:53:30 35.948544 70.109009 37.093430 70.106003 

D039 20 9/22/2007 07:37:29 37.179737 70.221771 35.982929 70.214981 

D040 20 9/22/2007 07:21:13 35.963593 70.330765 37.127232 70.323830 

D041 14 9/12/2007 06:28:00 35.962093 70.430099 37.181450 70.430077 

D042 14 9/12/2007 06:11:23 37.245518 70.530106 35.965771 70.534668 

D043 14 9/12/2007 05:54:08 35.969578 70.640472 37.330532 70.643089 

D044 14 9/12/2007 05:36:43 37.458996 70.742424 36.191723 70.747002 

D045 14 9/12/2007 05:19:54 36.358044 70.860443 37.661324 70.861107 

K000 26 9/30/2007 06:20:50 32.133125 64.549873 34.286678 62.154282 

K001 2 8/24/2007 08:05:59 32.677864 67.609924 31.501389 65.843285 

K002 8 9/6/2007 05:42:54 32.449684 67.612701 33.768139 67.850327 

K011 2 8/24/2007 08:28:54 31.467379 65.913788 32.497540 64.004822 

K012 13 9/11/2007 04:12:00 33.546810 67.624992 34.561146 69.211227 

K013 4 8/30/2007 07:23:20 32.647472 67.539955 33.504414 69.428040 

K015 13 9/11/2007 04:41:48 34.533806 69.098289 34.950806 70.781662 

K016 21 9/23/2007 07:11:56 34.526077 69.313324 35.338249 67.311401 

K017 21 9/23/2007 07:38:06 35.256653 67.514626 36.068298 65.512756 

T001 24 9/28/2007 07:08:23 36.158886 67.071342 36.943649 65.990005 

T002 24 9/28/2007 08:03:57 35.689156 65.244049 34.133327 63.359787 

1

Coordinated Universal Time, for Afghanistan local time add 4.5 hours 

13
Digital Files 

A high-resolution image of figure 2 and GIS vector files of the flight lines are 

available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1235/downloads. 

Acknowledgments 

The authors are grateful to the NASA WB–57 team for their dedication and resourcefulness 

in completing the HyMap data collection in Afghanistan. Dr. Terry Cocks and HyVista corporation 

spent long hours and endured many barely intelligible phone conversations to keep the HyMap 

sensor working during the long mission and difficult circumstances. Our sincere appreciation goes 

to the personnel at Kandahar and Bagram Air Fields in Afghanistan. 

References Cited 

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R.E., Brozena, J.A., Ball, D.C., Childers, V.A., Gardner, J.M., Jarvis, J.L., and Liang, R.T., 2007, 

Aeromagnetic Survey in Afghanistan: A Website for Distribution of Data. By Afghanistan 

Geological Survey (Kabul, Afghanistan): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1247. 

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14