analysis 
roper 
launch 
is ex- 
2 
— 
ly and 
eological 
H.A. Pohn (1974) undertook an interesting study of infrared 
reflectance anomalies; the abstract.from his paper is quoted below: 
"High-reflectivity anomalies in the near infrared (1.0 to 
2.6 um) have been observed on scanner images obtained by 
the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM) in 
flights over several geologic units in southern California 
and southwestern Nevada and by the Skylab II mission in 
flights over western Nevada. These anomalies almost always 
occur in rocks that are at least as mafic as andesite. The 
most reasonable explanation for the anomalies is that the 
anomalous materials have a 5-um or even thinner coatings of 
hematite that was formed during cooling and posteruptive 
fumarolic steaming." 
Thermal infrared observations seem to have passed from experimental 
to operational status and as a consequence the number of reports, 
appearing in the literature, have diminished during the past 4 years. 
Observations of such things as rooftops to detect heat leakage and water 
bodies to determine thermal circulation patterns are now commonplace 
and the contractors employing thermal scanners report a brisk business 
(Bjorkland and others, 1975). Likewise, during the past 4 years, the 
term "thermography" has largely replaced the more complex term "thermal 
infrared imagery". 
Studies do continue, but in the United States they are largely 
concerned with thermal modeling and analysis of high-altitude images. 
An. excellent study was reported by Dr. Hirokazu Hase (1974) of Japan 
that related structural geology to the occurrence of geothermal anomalies 
in the Manza geothermal area of Japan. 
South Dakota State University in cooperation with the American 
Crystal Sugar Company detected spoilage areas in sugar beet storage piles 
employing an airborne thermal infrared scanner operating in the 8.7-11.5 
um range (Moore and Bichsel, 1975). Heat emission chimneys in the sugar 
beet piles are associated with the spoilage. The company has rescheduled 
storage of the beet piles on the basis of the thermography and concluded 
that the technique employed provides a favorable cost/benefit ratio. 
In another application of airborne thermography, South Dakota State 
University also refined techniques of ground-water mapping (Moore and 
Myers, 1972). Environmental factors, such as soil temperatures, wind 
and precipitation conditions, cloud cover and humidity, and their effect 
on thermal gradients created by subsurface heat sinks were assessed. 
Terry W. Offield (1975) has reported on his investigations with 
thermography acquired by NASA from altitudes in excess of 15,000 m. His 
principal conclusion is that the synoptic view obtainable from these 
altitudes has significant value in structural geologic investigations. 
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