Reflecting on siliceous rocks in central Australia: Using advanced remote sensing to map ancient “tool‐stone” resources

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...