First hyperspectral imaging survey of the deep seafloor: High-resolution mapping of manganese nodules

摘要: Abstract Hyperspectral seafloor surveys using airborne or spaceborne sensors are generally limited to shallow coastal areas, due the requirement for target illumination by sunlight. Deeper marine environments devoid of sunlight cannot be imaged conventional hyperspectral imagers. Instead, a close-range, sunlight-independent survey approach is required. In this study, we present first image data from deep seafloor. The were acquired in approximately 4200 m water depth new Underwater Imager (UHI) mounted on remotely operated vehicle (ROV). UHI recorded 112 spectral bands between 378 nm and 805 nm, with high (4 nm) spatial resolution (1 mm per pixel). study area was located manganese nodule field Peru Basin (SE Pacific), close DISCOL (DISturbance reCOLonization) experimental area. To test whether underwater imaging can used detection mapping mineral deposits potential deep-sea mining compared two supervised classification methods, Support Vector Machine (SVM) Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM). results show that SVM superior SAM able accurately detect surfaces. therefore represents promising tool high-resolution exploration characterisation prior resource exploitation.