Geophysical Institute’s HyLab ready for the minerals hunt
BY ROD BOYCE Alaska contains minerals essen- tial to the national defense, renewable energy and electronics industries. Finding those minerals, however, can be difficult in such a vast and geolog - ically challenging state. Hyperspectral imagery can help as Alaska’s summer exploration season approaches. The University of Alaska Fair - banks Geophysical Institute has the only hyperspectral imaging facility in the state at its Hyperspectral Imag - ing Laboratory, created in 2014 as the brainchild of Anupma Prakash, who at the time was a geophysics professor and director for the Division of Re- search at the College of Natural Sci- ence and Mathematics and is now UAF provost and executive vice chancel- lor. The National Science Foundation funded the project.
Contributed Photo
The Hyperspectral Imaging Laboratory was created in 2014.
HyLab’s airborne cameras and ground spectrometers can provide an exceptionally detailed map of an area’s geologic makeup by measur- ing surface reflectivity in a variety
of wavelengths, including many not visible to the human eye. Mining ex- ploration experts can then look at the mineral composition of a surface and deduce what might lie beneath.
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The Alaska Miner
Summer 2021
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