HyMap™ airborne hyperspectral imagery was used to discriminate and map hydrated silica mineralization in the Dalhousie Springs area of central Australia. A spectral feature fitting algorithm was used to match laboratory reference spectra with image pixel spectra, producing a scaled goodness‐of‐fit raster map of silicified “tool‐stone” sources in our study area. Subsequent fieldwork indicated that the algorithm mapped silcrete, a rock composed of hydrated silica, and incidentally, the most frequently utilized raw material for stone artifact manufacture in this area of the Australian arid zone. The soundness of our hydrated silica mineralization map is supported with field observations and spectroscopic analysis of collected silcrete samples. Independent siliceous rock mapping produced by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industry Research Organization offers additional corroboration of our results. Based on the success of our approach, we suggest that archaeologists working in Australia and in similar arid environments elsewhere have much to benefit in using advanced remote sensing products to map lithic resources, including time and cost‐saving advantages for field logistics, enriched assessments of land suitability for archaeological site types, and an improved understanding of resource distributions.

中文翻译：

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反思澳大利亚中部的硅质岩：使用先进的遥感技术绘制古代“工具石”资源图

HyMap™机载高光谱图像用于区分和绘制澳大利亚中部Dalhousie Springs地区的水合二氧化硅矿化图。使用光谱特征拟合算法将实验室参考光谱与图像像素光谱进行匹配，从而在我们的研究区域中生成了比例缩放的硅化“工具石”源拟合优度光栅图。随后的野外工作表明，该算法绘制了由含水二氧化硅组成的岩石silcrete的图谱，并且偶然地绘制了该干旱地区该地区制造石材最常用的原材料。我们的水合二氧化硅矿化图的健全性得到了实地观察和收集的硅质混凝土样品的光谱分析的支持。联邦科学与工业研究组织制作的独立硅质岩测图进一步证实了我们的结果。基于我们方法的成功，我们建议在澳大利亚和其他类似干旱环境中工作的考古学家在使用先进的遥感产品绘制石质资源方面将受益匪浅，包括现场物流的时间和成本节省优势，丰富的地理资源评估对考古遗址类型的土地适应性，以及对资源分布的更好理解。