By Peter Mumford
The School of Aviation at the University of New South Wales runs a flying school with facilities at Bankstown Airport. The School owns and operates 17 aircraft, including a Piper Seminole setup for survey operations.
Since 2014 research and contract survey missions have been flown for topographic, vegetation, gas (methane enhancement) and other data products using LiDAR, photogrammetric, gas analyser and novel sensors. In 2024 a HySpex SWIR 384 hyperspectral imager was acquired to extend survey capabilities and support research work.
The HySpex SWIR 384 operates in the longer wavelength region just outside of the visual range and is suitable for applications including mineral detection, methane detection, vegetation assessment and research. The HySpex imager is mounted in the observation port of the survey Seminole with supporting navigation, control and data acquisition hardware. Several missions have been flown around Sydney to test in-air operation and data processing flow. The wavelength range of the imager covers two of the absorption regions for methane (around 1600 and 2300 nm), making it suitable for research into methane detection and quantification (within the limitations of the HySpex ~5nm spectral spacing and sensitivity). Data was acquired over a coal mine vent in Southern Sydney to investigate the detection potential.
The Remote Sensing Facility encourages engagement for contract and research collaborations across universities, government departments and other organisations. Contact Peter Mumford (p.mumford-at-unsw.edu.au) for more info.
If you’d like to learn more about NEO HySpex hyperspectral imaging systems, please contact Raymax on (02) 9979 7646 or fill out the form below.
