A novel hyperspectral remote sensing tool for detecting and analyzing human materials in the environment: a geoenvironmental approach to aid in emergency response

Abstract

Geology is the backdrop against which environmental disasters, emergencies and conflict occur. A search and discovery tool is developed to aid in investigations, search and rescue operations, and emergency response operations. The primary goal is to provide a software tool for the interpretations of hyperspectral remote sensing images in the context of investigations and emergency response operations in a wide range of outdoor settings (e.g., streams, semiarid settings, urban). Data is also translatable to indoor forensic hyperspectral imaging and reflective spectroscopy work. Data was collected on geologic materials, human materials, and other relevant items by staff and the accompanying software tool was developed by L3Harris Geospatial. A description of the spectral search and discovery tool is provided and is a customized ENVI extension written using the IDL programming language designed to help users find custom targets within hyperspectral imagery. The tool is free of charge and can be accessed here.