The methodology consisted of (i) hyperspectral measurements of sediment mixtures with varying physical and biological characteristics in laboratory conditions, (ii) determination and quantification of specific absorption features and (iii) regression between the absorption features and physical parameters.
In laboratory conditions, quantification of clay in dry sediment, moisture in unsaturated sediment and chlorophyll a in sediment mixtures was achieved with coefficients of determination (r2) of 0.98, 0.90 and of 0.96 using the scaled band area of absorption features at 2204, 1450 and 673 nm, respectively. Additionally, the water absorption at 1190 nm was identified as suitable to predict moisture content in very wet sediment and preliminary results showed the potential of hyperspectral signals to assess the effect of bioturbation on sediment properties.
Future work will consider the applicability of this methodology in field situations to relate bio-physical sediment parameters to the hyperspectral signal.