AisaEAGLE Collects Hyperspectral Data over the Hungarian Territory Affected by the Toxic Sludge Spill

Mon 25 Oct 2010 02:25:51 PM EEST

2010-10-22 14:45

Envirosense Images Toxic "Red Mud" Territory in Hungary

Károly Róbert College tasked Envirosense Hungary to acquire the first hyperspectral and Lidar imagery of the disaster area.

First ever "red mud" hyperspectral images in remote sensing history enable to access the area of contamination with toxic spill in Hungary.

Specim"s Aisa Eagle hyperspectral system from the College has been chosen to provide the complete coverage of the territory with orthorectified imagery at 1m pixel resolution, taken over the period from 10-12th October, 2010. The ability to acquire more than 100 square kilometers of images daily with the know-how of Envirosense Hungary allows the authorities to meet their needs in just a few hours, after the image acquisition, processing and delivery of the data.

Toxic wastes from the aluminum refinery "Ajkai Timfoldgyar Zrt" got into the river system of Hungary after a reservoir burst its banks releasing a flood of some 1.1 million cubic meters of toxic residues on 4th October. Kolontar, the village nearest the reservoir, was immediately engulfed by a torrent of red sludge. On the next day, on 5th October, the Hungarian government declared a state of emergency in three regions, impacted by the toxic wastes spill: Veszprem, Vas and Gyor-Moson-Sopron. Hungarian authorities addressed to the European Committee on October 7 to activate the mechanism of civil protection.

Hyperspectral images of the disaster area will help determining the actual size and concentration of the pollution and to control the mud distribution, their effects in plant and water systems.

Envirosense offered the in-flight operation, post-processing, field sampling and classification free of charge.