Characterizing Sparse Spectral Diversity Within a Homogenous Background: Hydrocarbon Production Infrastructure in Arctic Tundra near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

We explore a new approach for the parsimonious, generalizable, efficient, and potentially automatable characterization of spectral diversity of sparse targets in spectroscopic imagery. The approach focuses on pixels which are not well modeled by linear subpixel mixing of the Substrate, Vegetation an...

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Main Authors: Daniel Sousa, Latha Baskaran, Kimberley Miner, Elizabeth Josephine Bushnell
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Remote Sensing
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/2/244
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author Daniel Sousa
Latha Baskaran
Kimberley Miner
Elizabeth Josephine Bushnell
author_facet Daniel Sousa
Latha Baskaran
Kimberley Miner
Elizabeth Josephine Bushnell
author_sort Daniel Sousa
collection DOAJ
description We explore a new approach for the parsimonious, generalizable, efficient, and potentially automatable characterization of spectral diversity of sparse targets in spectroscopic imagery. The approach focuses on pixels which are not well modeled by linear subpixel mixing of the Substrate, Vegetation and Dark (S, V, and D) endmember spectra which dominate spectral variance for most of Earth’s land surface. We illustrate the approach using AVIRIS-3 imagery of anthropogenic surfaces (primarily hydrocarbon extraction infrastructure) embedded in a background of Arctic tundra near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Computational experiments further explore sensitivity to spatial and spectral resolution. Analysis involves two stages: first, computing the mixture residual of a generalized linear spectral mixture model; and second, nonlinear dimensionality reduction via manifold learning. Anthropogenic targets and lakeshore sediments are successfully isolated from the Arctic tundra background. Dependence on spatial resolution is observed, with substantial degradation of manifold topology as images are blurred from 5 m native ground sampling distance to simulated 30 m ground projected instantaneous field of view of a hypothetical spaceborne sensor. Degrading spectral resolution to mimicking the Sentinel-2A MultiSpectral Imager (MSI) also results in loss of information but is less severe than spatial blurring. These results inform spectroscopic characterization of sparse targets using spectroscopic images of varying spatial and spectral resolution.
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spelling doaj-art-b02c18253c30437eb3b47bb45eb1c1c62025-01-24T13:47:51ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-01-0117224410.3390/rs17020244Characterizing Sparse Spectral Diversity Within a Homogenous Background: Hydrocarbon Production Infrastructure in Arctic Tundra near Prudhoe Bay, AlaskaDaniel Sousa0Latha Baskaran1Kimberley Miner2Elizabeth Josephine Bushnell3Department of Geography, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USAJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USAJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USADepartment of Geography, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USAWe explore a new approach for the parsimonious, generalizable, efficient, and potentially automatable characterization of spectral diversity of sparse targets in spectroscopic imagery. The approach focuses on pixels which are not well modeled by linear subpixel mixing of the Substrate, Vegetation and Dark (S, V, and D) endmember spectra which dominate spectral variance for most of Earth’s land surface. We illustrate the approach using AVIRIS-3 imagery of anthropogenic surfaces (primarily hydrocarbon extraction infrastructure) embedded in a background of Arctic tundra near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Computational experiments further explore sensitivity to spatial and spectral resolution. Analysis involves two stages: first, computing the mixture residual of a generalized linear spectral mixture model; and second, nonlinear dimensionality reduction via manifold learning. Anthropogenic targets and lakeshore sediments are successfully isolated from the Arctic tundra background. Dependence on spatial resolution is observed, with substantial degradation of manifold topology as images are blurred from 5 m native ground sampling distance to simulated 30 m ground projected instantaneous field of view of a hypothetical spaceborne sensor. Degrading spectral resolution to mimicking the Sentinel-2A MultiSpectral Imager (MSI) also results in loss of information but is less severe than spatial blurring. These results inform spectroscopic characterization of sparse targets using spectroscopic images of varying spatial and spectral resolution.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/2/244spectral characterizationarctic tundrahydrocarbon productionimaging spectroscopyAVIRIS-3UMAP
spellingShingle Daniel Sousa
Latha Baskaran
Kimberley Miner
Elizabeth Josephine Bushnell
Characterizing Sparse Spectral Diversity Within a Homogenous Background: Hydrocarbon Production Infrastructure in Arctic Tundra near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
Remote Sensing
spectral characterization
arctic tundra
hydrocarbon production
imaging spectroscopy
AVIRIS-3
UMAP
title Characterizing Sparse Spectral Diversity Within a Homogenous Background: Hydrocarbon Production Infrastructure in Arctic Tundra near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
title_full Characterizing Sparse Spectral Diversity Within a Homogenous Background: Hydrocarbon Production Infrastructure in Arctic Tundra near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
title_fullStr Characterizing Sparse Spectral Diversity Within a Homogenous Background: Hydrocarbon Production Infrastructure in Arctic Tundra near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
title_full_unstemmed Characterizing Sparse Spectral Diversity Within a Homogenous Background: Hydrocarbon Production Infrastructure in Arctic Tundra near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
title_short Characterizing Sparse Spectral Diversity Within a Homogenous Background: Hydrocarbon Production Infrastructure in Arctic Tundra near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
title_sort characterizing sparse spectral diversity within a homogenous background hydrocarbon production infrastructure in arctic tundra near prudhoe bay alaska
topic spectral characterization
arctic tundra
hydrocarbon production
imaging spectroscopy
AVIRIS-3
UMAP
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/2/244
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