Remote detection of geochemical soil anomalies

This paper describes a preliminary experiment that was made to compare the spectral reflectance from trees growing in soil over a mineral deposit with reflectance from trees of the same species growing in a nearby unmineralized area. Although the measurements were made on a relatively small number of trees, some significant differences were obtained and the overall results are encouraging enough to warrant additional studies. Preliminary results suggest that measurement of spectral reflectance may become a dramatic new way of detecting geochemical soil anomalies by remote means in tree-covered areas.