There are roughly 1,200 mining waste piles in the area, and the EPA was faced with the formidable task of testing each pile to determine which ones were leaching arsenic, cadmium and lead. The NASA imager was able to collect the data in 45 seconds. Researchers working on computers took another 10 months to analyze the information, saving years of field research and hastening the clean-up process. Hyperspectral images could determine what types of emissions are coming from smokestacks and whether those emissions meet or exceed the company's permit. Drug enforcement agencies could find fields of illegal crops and processing facilities tucked back in the hills.
Military applications are also possible .
Camouflage is rendered useless when hyperspectral images are analyzed because plastic and other non-natural materials give off a unique spectral signature.