Simplified Hyperspectral Imaging for Improved
 

Geologic Mapping of Mine Slopes
 

Edward L. McHugh*, Jami M. Girard*, 

* National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Spokane, WA 

and Louis J. Denes** 

** Carnegie Mellon Research Institute, Pittsburgh, PA 

Abstract 

A prototype portable hyperspectral imager that operates in the visible and near-infrared ranges of the 

electromagnetic spectrum was field tested at an open-pit mine. The tests were sponsored by the Spokane 

Research Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, as part of an investigation of 

remote sensing technologies for use in detecting and monitoring conditions in surface mines that could 

lead to catastrophic slope failure. The spectro-polarimetric imager, built at the Carnegie Mellon Research 

Institute, employs an acousto-optical tunable filter (AOTF) to control wavelength, a phase retarder to 

measure polarization signatures, and a digital camera and computer to capture data. The spectral range of 

the instrument is 450 to 1000 nm at 10-nm intervals. High-resolution hyperspectral images of highwalls, 

outcrops, hand samples, and drill core were collected in the field. Spectra from the images closely matched 

those of specific minerals present and were used to classify the images. The field tests were designed to 

examine the feasibility of using spectral imaging to assist in compiling objective geologic maps of mine 

highwalls and other hazardous slopes. Results illustrate the capability of the method to discriminate 

materials within the image, validating the concept of simplified spectral imaging. A contributing factor in 

many slope failures is the presence and distribution of mechanically incompetent, clay-rich altered rock in 

slope faces. Spectral features of clays and other minerals are more distinctive in the short-wave and midinfrared part of the spectrum; the capabilities of the instrument need to be extended into this range to apply 

the AOTF-based technology to common geologic materials. A field-portable hyperspectral imager could 

find broad application in remotely identifying diverse materials from solids and coatings to gases. 

Introduction 

As part of its work to improve the safety of miners, the Spokane Research Laboratory (SRL) of the 

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is engaged in research to improve means of 

detecting conditions in open-pit mines that could lead to catastrophic slope failure. Since 1995, 33 miners 

have died in slope failure accidents at surface mines in the United States. A contributing factor in many of 

these failures is the presence and distribution of mechanically incompetent, clay-rich, altered rock in pit 

highwalls. The use of imaging spectrometers may assist in recognizing these weakened, altered rocks. In 

this paper, the results of testing one of these instruments by SRL and its potential for detecting imminent 

slope failures are described. 

Most alteration minerals have diagnostic spectral absorption features in the short wave and mid-infrared 

light they reflect that allow their identification. Field instruments are commercially available that can 

analyze light reflected from a single point within a scene; an imaging system can record spectral reflectance 

data for an entire scene, adding a spatial dimension to the data. High-resolution spectral imagery can assist 

in compiling objective geologic maps of mine highwalls and other hazardous slopes remotely. 

Spectral Imaging 

Every material on or off the earth’s surface reflects light in a characteristic pattern; the manner in which 

light of different wavelengths is reflected or absorbed from each material is known as its reflectance 

spectrum. By filtering reflected light to specific wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum (or color for 

the visible part of the spectrum) images can be created that enhance our ability to differentiate materials. 

Multispectral imaging makes use of a few broad wavelength bands within and outside the visible part of the 

spectrum Hyperspectral imaging refers to obtaining reflectance spectra for the region being imaged over a 

large number of discrete, contiguous spectral bands. 
The output of a hyperspectral imager is a stack of images over a spectral range, referred to as an image 

cube, in which the image is in two spatial dimensions and the third or spectral dimension is wavelength 

(Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Hyperspectral image cube showing relation to spectra. Top image is a false color composite 

of rocks and vegetation with red = 650 nm, green = 520 nm, and blue = 480 nm. 

 A radiant energy value is recorded for each data point (pixel) in the image for every wavelength 

sampled so that a spectrum is collected for each pixel in the image. 

Hyperspectral imagery from airborne platforms can be obtained from government-sponsored and 

commercial sources; the best known is NASA’s Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer 

(AVIRIS) deployed in the high-altitude ER-2 and other aircraft [1]. New satellite systems may soon 

provide much wider coverage and unprecedented access to such imagery. These imagers use diffraction 

gratings and prisms with linear or two-dimensional detector arrays to collect data in hundreds of narrow 

spatial bands. The motion of the sensor builds an image in the along-track dimension in a "whiskbroom" or 

"pushbroom" mode. Applying the techniques of these air- and space-borne systems to site-level or 

laboratory scales calls for a simplified, less expensive sensor design; electronically tunable filters might 

provide a more convenient, flexible solution. 

The Spectro Polarimetric Imager 

Field trials were conducted of a compact, field-portable instrument based on technology (patent No. 6,064, 

510) developed by Dr. Louis Denes at Carnegie Mellon Research Institute [2]. The instrument is capable 

of obtaining spectral images at visible and near-infrared wavelengths to generate a data cube that can be 

processed by standard hyperspectral techniques. The Spectro-Polarimetric Imager (SPI) uses an acoustooptical tunable filter (AOTF) and an off-the-shelf camera, offering great flexibility for quickly obtaining 

images in a variety of environments (Figure 2). The imager samples an entire two-dimensional scene at 

once with no moving parts, making it compact and robust. The programmable AOTF allows rapid 

sequential or random tuning for different spectral bands over a wide wavelength range [3, 4]. 
Fig. 2. Spectro-polarimetric imager components. 

The imager consists of a tellurium dioxide (TeO2) AOTF crystal, radio frequency (RF) electronics, imageforming optics, a monochrome charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, and an external host computer with a 

frame grabber board and control and processing software. The imager specifications are summarized in 

Table 1. 

Table 1. Specifications 

Parameters__________________________________ Values____________________________________ 

Spectral range 450-1000 nm 

Resolution 10 nm @ 600 nm 

Switching rate 30 microsec/band 

Retarder range 400-1800 nm 

AOTF aperture 15 · 15 mn 

RF range 25-60 MHz 

RF power <1 W 

Field of view (adjustable) 1.6° to 16° 

Power requirement 110 volts ac 

During operation of the AOTF, an RF acoustic wave is applied to a birefringent TeO2 crystal 

through an attached piezoelectric transducer. This traveling acoustic wave sets up a diffraction grating so 

that light falling on the crystal produces a diffracted beam with a shift corresponding to a wavelength 

resulting from the phase-matching condition. The wavelength of the diffracted light is selected by tuning 

the applied frequency. The center wavelength of the optical passband in the AOTF is inversely 

proportional to the applied RF and can be programmed in the host computer for very rapid selection of 

desired spectral and polarization parameters. 

Light entering the instrument first passes through the acceptance optics, which collimate the light before it 

passes through a phase retarder and the AOTF. Active zoom control on the acceptance optics provide a 

field of view adjustable from 1.6° to 16°. The liquid crystal variable phase retarder provides optional polarrimetric control for the imaging system. Varying the voltage applied to the retarder controls the amount of 

phase delay between the components, changing the polarization state of the incoming light. The AOTF acts 

as an analyzer by transmitting only vertically polarized light. For natural scenes in the visible spectrum, 

polarized light is primarily horizontal in orientation. By varying retardation, polarization signatures of 

points in the scene, including the polarization angle and magnitude, are transmitted to the CCD camera. 
Software in the host computer sets the spectral range, spectral bandwidth, and polarization parameters for 

data collection. Two control modes can be used at 30 microseconds per spectral band over wavelengths of 

450 to 1000 nm. In sweep mode, the AOTF sequences through the full spectral range of the instrument, 

collecting the maximum amount of information in a scene. In switching mode, the instrument alternates 

between a small number of parameter settings for quick collection of specific bands for the sampled scene. 

The switching mode can be programmed to obtain real-time band ratio images. 

Data Collection and Preprocessing 

The test site at a surface mine in California was selected because the diagnostic spectral features of its rareearth mineral assemblage are in the spectral range of the present instrument. Twelve hyperspectral images 

were collected of features that included pit highwalls, outcrops, drill core from the ore zone, and hand 

samples. Example images are shown in Fig. 3.

 

Parameter Value

Spectral range 450 1000 nm

Resolution 10 nm @ 600 nm

Switching rate 30 microsec/band

Retarder range 400 1800 nm

AOTF aperture 15H15 mm

RF range 25 60 MHz

RF power <1 W

Field of view (adjustable) 1.6E to 16E

Power requirement 110 volts ac

-

-

-

Fig. 3. SPI images showing (a) drill core, (b) vegetation and outcrop, (c) rock hand samples, and 

(d) wall in main pit. 

Images were also collected at a nearby gold mine for 

comparison of images, spectra, and methodology. Additional images of hand specimens under artificial 

light were collected at the Carnegie Mellon laboratory. These images were used as an aid in calibrating and 

evaluating the instrument. Thin sections were made of both ore and host rocks to assist in interpreting 

spectral images. 

The mineral deposits occur as carbonatite veins associated with potassium-rich igneous rocks that intrude a 

block of Precambrian metamorphic rocks. The carbonatites, apparently of magmatic origin, consist mainly 

of calcite, dolomite, ankerite, and siderite. Bastnaesite, a fluorocarbonate of lanthanide-series metals and 
the principle rare-earth-bearing mineral present, constitutes 5 to 15 percent of much of the ore body and 

locally exceeds 60 percent [5]. Rare-earth elements of the lanthanide series (cerium, lanthanum, 

neodymium, europium and others) produced at the mine have been used in petroleum and pollution control 

catalysts, specialty glasses and magnets, and television and computer monitor phosphors. Diagnostic 

spectral characteristics of the rare-earth assemblage correspond to published spectra of neodymium oxide, 

with at least eight distinctive absorption features between 450 and 1000 nm. Spectral reflectance data for 

the deposit were published by Rowan and others [6]; work with AVIRIS data for the deposit was described 

by Kingston [7] and Rowan and others [8]. 

The data consist of 47 bands from 480 to 940 nm in 10 nm intervals each collected at four polarizations. 

Data preprocessing and most of the subsequent analysis was done using basic procedures from the ENVI 

computer program from Research Systems, Inc., Boulder, CO. For each scene, raw data from 190 original 

bitmap files were compiled into data cubes. 

Original data sets consisted of 640- by 480-pixel images; the images were cropped to eliminate dark 

margins in some scenes. Each analyzed scene contained a white card and a black card that were used for 

data correction and normalization. Mean values from a region of interest in the black card were used to 

correct for path radiance using ENVI’s dark subtraction routine. A region of interest in the white card was 

used to normalize the data to relative reflectance using a flat-field calibration. Plane-polarized images 

showed minor registration errors resulting from camera shake during data acquisition and elevated random 

noise at the high and low ends of the spectral range. A second artifact in the images was a set of nearvertical to diagonal light and dark stripes resulting from RF noise at the AOTF crystal/transducer boundary, 

which were caused in part to misalignment during accidental jarring during transport. Band math scripts 

were used to combine all four polarization images into an averaged image for each band. The result was 

compiled into a single data cube. Although some spatial resolution was lost in the averaged data, the 

combined images showed significant improvements in random noise distribution; the RF striping noise 

component was unaffected. Spectral profiles were also smoothed in the combination. 

In this study, reflectance spectra of rare-earth ore from the same site were measured with a spectrometer to 

evaluate the SPI images. The spectra were collected with an ASD full-range spectrometer at 1-nm 

resolution and resampled to 10-nm resolution. These profiles had very good agreement in height and 

position with published spectra and U.S. Geological Survey library profiles for neodymium oxide [9]. In 

both measured and library spectra, the most diagnostic absorption features occur at approximately 740, 800, 

and 870 nm. 

Data were compiled into image cubes, and a basic analysis was done for each of the scenes. The area of a 

highwall in one scene is shown in Fig. 4; the dashed line shows the approximate contact of the ore zone 

(lower portion) with host rocks (upper portion). Original images for this scene (640 by 480 pixels) (Figure 

5) were cropped at the top, left, and right sides, resulting in a 622- by 388-pixel, 47-band data cube. The 

discussion that follows relates to the combined polarization image set. Dark subtraction was done with a 

276-pixel region of interest on the black card, and normalization to relative reflectance was done with a 

231-pixel region of interest on a white card. 

A sampling of single pixels from the resulting data cube showed numerous spectral profiles related to the 

expected rare-earth-mineral assemblage. SPI spectra in Figure 6, which are offset 4 percent of full scale for 

clarity, show a range of correlation with the spectra measured from bastnaesite ore with the ASD 

spectrometer. Some of the profiles match nearly all the characteristic absorption features for the ore (e.g., 

pixel x:108, y:77); several show the asymmetry at the 790- to 800-nm feature. 
Fig. 4. West wall of the main pit showing the area of the pit wall SPI image. 

Fig. 5. Original SPI image of the west pit wall at 600 nm and 0° polarization. 
 

Fig. 6. Sampling of spectra from main pit west wall 

that correlate with bastnaesite. 

IMAGE ANALYSIS 

A first classification of the normalized images 

using ENVI’s Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) at 

the default spectral angle (0.10 radians) was based 

on two endmembers defined as regions of interest 

(ROI) for "ore" and "host" portions of the image. 

The result was quite reasonable, and the size of 

the ROI polygons had little effect on the outcome. 

ROIs ranging from 60 to more than 2500 pixels 

returned approximately the same result, leaving 

about 20 percent of the image unclassified. A 

cross-track illumination correction (multiplicative, 

two polynomials) was applied to the original 

images to reduce the effect of RF striping from the 

AOTF. The correction reduced near-vertical striping and an apparent x-axis gradient in the original 

images. SAM classification of the result included 

larger areas of ore end-member correlation in the 

left side of the image, areas that were left unclassified without the cross-track correction (Figure 7). 

The lower portion of the image is predominantly 

ore; the patchy isolated classified polygons in 

near-vertical stripes are likely associated with RF 

noise. 

A second strategy was used in which similar 

classification methods were applied to the highwall image after a minimum noise fraction (MNF) 

transformation, using 8 to 11 transformed bands. The transformation was useful to reduce random noise, 

but was generally unsuccessful in reducing the RF striping. Several supervised classification methods and 

settings with the transformed images gave no particular improvement over that shown in Fig. 7. 

The Pixel Purity IndexTM function applied to the MNF transformed data (1200 iterations and a threshold 

factor of 3) highlighted an endmember with a profile that closely matched most of the neodymium peaks in 

position and amplitude. However, classifications based on this end-member profile identified only very 

small areas within the scene. Profiles for other apparent end-members had no features that relate to rareearth minerals. 

A third strategy for distinguishing ore-bearing parts of the image made use of matched filtering routines for 

partial unmixing to find a predetermined end-member. The resampled ASD spectral profile for bastnaesite 

ore was used as the known end-member. The resulting classification, shown in Figure 8, was partially 

successful in identifying ore in the lower portion of the image. Again, vertical striping in the image relates 

to RF noise. 

Basic analysis was also done on hyperspectral images collected under artificial illumination in the 

laboratory. The results showed that the method can be used to characterize scenes at different scales where 

pixel dimension is controlled by magnification and distance to the object. The SPI images in Figure 9 show 

mineral samples from a range of about 3 m. An averaged spectrum from the elliptical “region of interest” 

highlighted on the small nearly pure bastnaesite mineral specimen in the left of each image was used to 

classify the scene using the matched filtering routine. Bastnaesite in both the mineral specimen and the 

mixed ore sample on the right are highlighted. 
Fig. 7. Classification of the pit wal1 image using spectra derived from the image and the SAM method 

following a cross-track illumination correction. Red areas are classified as ore. 

Fig. 8. Classification of the pit wall image using spectra for bastnaesite from the ASD spectrometer and the 

matched filter method. Red areas are classified as ore minerals. 
Fig. 9. Classification of a rock sample in the laboratory. Spectra from a region of the bastnaesite mineral 

specimen (red in left image) were used to classify the scene. Bastnaesite is highlighted in both the 

mineral specimen and the mixed ore sample (green in right image). 

Conclusions 

Field tests were designed to evaluate the use of high-resolution spectral imagery to characterize remotely 

the mineral composition of mine slopes The SPI visible/near-infrared images clearly illustrate the 

capabilities of the method for collecting a hyperspectral image and discriminating materials within the 

image, validating the concept of simplified spectral imaging for such purposes. However, the spectral 

range of the imager limits its application in identifying geologic materials. A spectral imager in the 1.0 to 

2.5 micrometer part of the infrared spectrum, where spectral features for clays and other minerals are more 

distinctive, would be more useful for mapping clay-altered rocks on mine slopes. Such an imager would 

assist in compiling objective geologic maps of mine highwalls and other hazardous slopes from a safe 

position as well as help to define faults, shear zones, and fracture systems in mine slopes and to 

characterize drill core, rock chips, and hand samples in the field and in the laboratory. In other minerelated applications, the imager could be used to enhance mineral exploration, ore control, and the siting of 

mine facilities. It would also find application in other fields such as civil engineering, land development, 

and urban planning. 

Where detection and recognition may require only a limited set of specific spectral bands, depending on the 

material sampled and backgrounds, an AOTF allows high-speed spectral selectivity with high resolution. 

Such capability greatly reduces the amount of data collection and processing required. The instrument can 

be used in the field with minimal maintenance or special handling; its demonstrated use is a first step in 

development of imagers for a wide range of geologic materials. 

The field test data allowed isolation of spectral profiles that correlated with rare-earth elements expected at 

the site. However, the signal-to-noise ratio in the data limited detailed classification of the images; spectral 

features within the profiles may be broader and shifted from standard library positions. Field verification 

and feature extraction based on image-derived spectra were essential for reliable mapping of geologic 

samples and scenes. Next-generation improvements to the instrument will have higher signal-to-noise 

ratios and optimize calibration for more reliable profile matching and classification based on library 

spectra. Additional work could investigate the utility of polarization content in the AOTF images. 
In summary, a portable, ground-based spectral imager in the 1-2.5-micrometer range could provide— 

•	 Objective information to assist in the inherently subjective process of geologic identification and 

mapping, 

•	 An alternative to expensive airborne and satellite spectral imagery that provide few options in 

scale and require considerable lead times, 

•	 More capability than the nonimaging (point-by-point) spectrometers currently being used to 

augment mapping. 

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