In 2010, HyVista Corporation has surveys planned nationally and internationally.  But as we look forward to destinations both new and familiar, it seems fitting to recall the images recorded, the clients served, the people met and the general survey experiences of 2009.
The January 2010 Image of the Month features HyMap image strips from a semi-arid region of Sth Africa and the delta of the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan.  But a survey is more than just the hyperspectral imagery acquired and so in this month’s image we have included pictures that represent the wider survey experience.

Started in 1906, the open pit mine is extracting copper from a large porphyry copper system. The Bingham Canyon mine is located just 16 miles southwest of Salt lake City and in 1996 it was listed on the National Historic Landmarks register where its significance is listed as being the first open-cut copper mine in the world and currently is the world’s largest man-made excavation.

The mine is currently owned and operated by Rio Tinto and in 2006, the metals produced was valued at US$1.8 billion.

This HyMap image was recorded on 12 August 2009 and is coloured to represent the LANSAT 7-4-1 band combination.  HyVista Corporation was undertaking surveys in Utah, Nevada and Oregon.

Note: HyVista’s June Image of the Month was of BHPB’s Olympic Dam mine in South Australia.  This mine is going to be developed and will yield an open pit larger than the Bingham Canyon mine.

This month’s image is a mosaic of 6 HyMap flight lines featuring the Beecroft Peninsula (34.05 deg S, 150.82 deg E) which is about 135 km (85 miles) south of Sydney, forms the north-east headland of Jervis Bay and hosts the small township of Currarong.  (The image colour represents the LANDSAT 7-4-1 band combination)

The areas of Jervis Bay and the Beecroft Peninsula are of significant ecological value with the Beecroft Pensinsula being on the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List and the marine areas make up the Jervis Bay Marine Park. The Beecroft Peninsula is the best example of Permian cliffed coast in NSW and also serves as a test range for the Australian Defence Force.

Jervis Bay contains the largest and deepest beds of the seagrass strapweed in NSW, most of which is found in Hare Bay.  Along the estuary flowing into Hare Bay, there are areas of mangroves and saltmarsh.  Within the marine park, 8 species of shark and more than 20 species of marine mammals have been recorded.  The park supports a resident group of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin.

Beecroft Peninsula is significant for its high diversity of natural vegetation surviving in the region which ranges from heath to temperate rainforest. More than 500 plant species have been identified in the area with 8 species either rare or threatened.  It is the largest area of heath remaining on the NSW coast and supports more than 40 heath species.

HyVista Corp acquired this imagery in August, 2008 in conjunction with an acquisition that was used to test the company’s bathymetric and benthic mapping algorithms.

Early in 2009, HyVista Corporation undertook a multi-client deployment to Hawaii. Surveys were conducted on the islands of Oahu, Maui and Hawaii (the Big Island).

This month’s image is a true colour rendition of a HyMap image strip across part of Kaneohe Bay on the eastern coast of Oahu. The image has been rotated such that NW is on the right hand side of the image.

The image obviously displays a number of fringing and patch reefs but on further examination one notices that some of the patch reefs have some peculiar straight edges. No, it is not some image defect! During World War II, a shipping channel was dredged through the coral reef system.

Earlier this year, HyVista Corporation was returning from a survey in the Coober Pedy area when it acquired an “image of opportunity” of BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam mine. The Olympic Dam deposit, located some 560 km northwest of Adelaide, is truly of Olympian proportions. It is the world’s fourth largest remaining deposit of copper and gold and the world’s largest uranium deposit.

BHPB recently announced plans to begin an expansion of the mine in 2010 that will result in the largest open cut mine in the world. HyVista’s HyMap hyperspectral scanner capture a “before” image and a true colour representation is shown. The spatial resolution is 3 metres.