COMBINATION OF BIOCHEMICAL AND HYPERSPECTRAL REMOTE SENSING METHODS FOR DETECTION OF HEAVY METAL POLLUTIONS IN EUCALYPTUS LEAVES (CASE STUDY: THE CITY OF BAM)

Abstract. Environmental pollution may be caused due to mines and mineral deposits. The accumulation of the associated heavy metals in soil and especially at the root zone of plants would result in plant contamination. This paper aims to detect the dominant heavy metals in Eucalyptus leaves using both biochemical and hyperspectral techniques for northern part of Bam in Iran. In this regards, using biochemical approach, some Eucalyptus leaf samples were collected, and their laboratory data containing the concentration of heavy metals were measured by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (GF-AAS). Using ASD FieldSpec3 Pro spectrometer (Analytical Spectral Devices) also, the spectral profile of leaf samples was measured and compared with healthy ones namely control samples. Finally, using supervised classification methods, the spatial distribution of heavy metals was determined by combination of biochemical results, spectral measurements of samples and hyperspectral images of EO-1 satellite. Results showed that Eucalyptus trees accumulates the heavy metals of As and Pb with the average concentrations equalling 9.98 and 14.31 ppb while compared with the relevant control samples equalling 2.32 and 8.98 ppb, respectively. Combination of biochemical and hyperspectral data analysis also proved by increasing heavy metals concentrations in all samples, their spectral profiles for the visible and near infrared regions will be changed in comparison with those obtained from the control sample.