Advances in application of hyperspectral remote sensing in hydrogeology

Hyperspectral remote sensing can simultaneously get radiation information, spectral and spatial information of targets, and hydrogeology is one of important fields of application of hyperspectral remote sensing. By analyzing hyperspectral images, regional hydrogeological information of vadose zones and aquifers can be extracted, which provides scientific data support for identification and real-time monitoring of hydrogeological environments, management of groundwater resources and numerical simulations. This paper summarizes the basic principles and methods of hyperspectral remote sensing and its application in hydrogeology, especially the advances in groundwater contamination and hydrological information inversion. The potential challenges and prospects of its further development are also analyzed. The main contents include the following aspects: (1) fast and continuous monitoring on heavy-metal pollution of the vadose zone by using spectral information of soil and vegetation in a regional scale and short-cycle frequency; (2) extracting geological and hydrogeological features from hyperspectral images and taking environmental indicators (such as vegetation) as effective supplements and evaluating groundwater qualities; (3) using hyperspectral images to identify vegetation types, calculate the vegetation coverage and spectral reflectances of leaves, and (4) establishing models to attain retrival of soil moisture and groundwater levels, which provide data supports for the ecological environment protection in water shortage areas.