Thermal emission data as a tool for mineral and lithological mapping on the Antarctic Peninsula

地质图是了解一个地区的潜力（如矿产资源、工程/建设适宜性）以及预测和减轻自然事件（如滑坡、地震）的主要信息来源。几乎整个地球都有地质图，有些地图（如不列颠群岛）在过去150年里不断地改进和更新。世界上的极地和高山地区对进入某些地区造成了重大的后勤问题，因此对某些地区的地质情况了解甚少或完全不了解。南极半岛就是一个例子，那里的冰川地形和山地地形阻碍了实地地质学家的进入。对南极半岛进行了50多年的地质测绘，使人们对其地质历史及其与安第斯山脉和冈瓦纳超大陆的联系有了很好的了解，冈瓦纳超大陆是南极洲的一部分。然而，一些非常大的地区（100平方公里）仍然知之甚少或尚未开发。只有对南极半岛的岩石类型有了更全面的了解，才能充分了解南极半岛的地质演化。虽然没有什么可以替代实地工作，但从飞机上安装的仪器或卫星上收集数据，有可能为地质学家提供一种远程识别岩石类型的一级方法。在南极半岛工作的地质学家已经利用航空磁和航空重力数据来帮助了解冰下的地质情况，最近的一项研究利用卫星数据利用反射数据来识别矿物。然而，这种方法被证明是有局限性的，因为相对较少的主要造岩矿物显示出诊断性的吸收特征。相比之下，几乎所有的造岩矿物都在热红外区域显示诊断光谱发射特征，这有可能成为区分火成岩和沉积岩特征的有价值的工具。来自卫星的热数据是可用的，但它的光谱带有限，无法产生区分矿物所需的分辨率。英国外交和联邦事务部已经为一项评估南极半岛阿德莱德岛植被类型和范围的调查提供了资金（生物科学，BAS）。该调查将使用加拿大研究公司（ITRES）拥有的仪器进行；NERC目前还没有这种工具。加拿大拥有的64波段热成像仪器（热机载光谱成像仪：TASI）能够生成高空间和光谱分辨率的热发射数据。它可以安装在英国南极调查双水獭飞机上，能够生成非常高质量的数据，可以绘制南极半岛沿线几个地点的植被类型和范围。该仪器还可以与其他调查飞行结合使用，以优化时间和资源。这里寻求资金使用相同的植被调查数据集，但要调查其识别不同矿物和岩石类型的潜力。如果获得资金，地面光谱研究将与航空调查一起进行，以校准数据。这项研究将在地质情况得到充分描述和了解的地区进行，以便在将技术推广到地质情况不佳或不存在的地区之前，可以建立概念证明。如果取得成功，打算将这项工作扩展到其他极地地区或难以进入的高山地区，并进一步发展这些技术。

Geological maps are a primary source of information for understanding much about an area's potential (e.g. mineral resources, engineering/construction suitability) through to anticipating and mitigating natural events (e.g. landslides, earthquakes). Geological maps exist for almost the entire planet and some maps (e.g. British Isles) have been continually refined and updated over the last 150 years. The Polar and highly mountainous regions of the world pose major logistical problems to gain access to certain areas, such that the geology of some regions remains poorly understood or completely unknown. The Antarctic Peninsula is one example where the glaciated terrain and mountainous relief have prevented access to field geologists. Over 50 years of geological mapping on the Antarctic Peninsula has led to a good understanding of its geological history and its links to the Andes and the supercontinent, Gondwana, of which Antarctica formed a part. However, some very large areas (100s km2) still remain poorly known or unexplored. The geological evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula can only be fully understood with a more complete knowledge of the rock types present. Although there is no substitute for fieldwork, gathering data from aircraft-mounted instruments or satellites offers the potential of providing geologists a first order method of remotely identifying rock types. Geologists working on the Antarctic Peninsula already make use of aeromagnetic and aerogravity data to help understand the sub-ice geology and a recent study has used satellite data for identifying minerals using reflectance data This, however proved to have limitations as comparatively few of the major rock-forming minerals display diagnostic absorption features. In contrast, almost all rock forming minerals display diagnostic spectral emission features in the thermal infrared region, which has the potential to be a valuable tool in distinguishing features for igneous and sedimentary rocks. Thermal data from satellites is available, but it has limited spectral bands that would not yield the resolution required to differentiate between minerals. Funding through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK has already been secured (Biological Sciences, BAS) for a survey to assess vegetation type and extent at sites on Adelaide Island on the Antarctic Peninsula. The survey will be conducted using an instrument owned by a Canadian research company (ITRES); such an instrument is not currently available to NERC. The Canadian owned, 64-band thermal imaging instrument (Thermal Airborne Spectrographic Imager: TASI) is capable of generating high spatial and spectral resolution thermal emission data. It can be fitted to a British Antarctic Survey Twin Otter aircraft and is able to generate very high quality data that can map the type and extent of vegetation at several sites along the Antarctic Peninsula. The instrument can also be used in conjunction with other survey flying to optimise time and resources. Funding is sought here to use the same vegetation survey dataset, but to investigate its potential to identify different minerals and rock types. If funding is secured a ground-based spectral study would be done in conjunction with the airborne survey to calibrate the data. This study would be carried out in an area where the geology is well described and understood, such that a proof of concept could be established before extending the techniques to areas where geological understanding is poor or absent. If successful, the intention would be to extend the work into other polar regions or highly mountainous, difficult to access regions and develop the techniques further.