Red mud soil contamination near an urban settlement analyzed by airborne hyperspectral remote sensing

The red mud dust risk involves the accumulative contamination of land and dwellings in the community with highly alkaline fine particulate containing heavy metals and other pollutants. This paper demonstrates that hyperspectral airborne remote sensing data can provide an effective, rapid and repeatable tool for mapping and monitoring the spread of red dust providing the location of the polluted areas to be checked. We perform field and laboratory analyses of red mud and soil samples collected in the study area and identify the optical characteristics of the samples to characterize the red mud spectral features. Next, we use hyperspectral airborne data covering an aluminium processing plant in Montenegro (EU). The joint use of MIVIS reflectance and emissivities data allowed us to individuate and map those sites on which the red dust is spread by the dominant winds, where a check for reclamation or a neutralization intervention is required.