Mapping Surface Cover Using EO-1 Hyperion Data: Ongoing Studies in Arid Environments

The utility of Hyperion images in the discrimination of surface classes is currently being tested at two study areas: 1) eastern Melville Island, Nunavut, Canada; and 2) Big Bend National Park, Texas. Hyperion unmixing results for the Melville Island study area effectively depict fractional surface cover, although the abundance images of several classes contain background values that locally overestimate surface exposure. At Big Bend National Park, separation of classes through Hyperion unmixing has been hindered by the relatively indistinct weathering characteristics of several key sedimentary units. Ongoing research efforts include experimentation with hyperspectral classification approaches that entail reduction of Hyperion data dimensionality through the combination of spectral bands.