• DOI:10.1111/maps.13461
• Corpus ID: 216247217

Visible–near infrared spectral indices for mapping mineralogy and chemistry with OSIRIS‐REx

@article{Kaplan2020VisiblenearIS,
  title={Visible–near infrared spectral indices for mapping mineralogy and chemistry with OSIRIS‐REx},
  author={Hannah H. Kaplan and Victoria E. Hamilton and Ellen S. Howell and F. Scott Anderson and M. Antonella Barrucci and John Robert Brucato and Thomas H. Burbine and Beth Ellen Clark and Edward A. Cloutis and Harold C. Connolly and Elisabetta Dotto and Joshua P. Emery and Sonia Fornasier and Cateline Lantz and Lucy F. Lim and Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric Merlin and Alice Praet and Dennis C. Reuter and Scott A. Sandford and Amy A. Simon and Driss Takir and Dante S. Lauretta},
  journal={Meteoritics \& Planetary Science},
  year={2020},
  volume={55}
}

• H. Kaplan, V. Hamilton, +19 authors D. Lauretta
• Published 6 March 2020
• Geology, Environmental Science
• Meteoritics & Planetary Science

The primary objective of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS‐REx) mission is to return to Earth a pristine sample of carbonaceous material from the primitive asteroid (101955) Bennu. To support compositional mapping of Bennu as part of sample site selection and characterization, we tested 95 spectral indices on visible to near infrared laboratory reflectance data from minerals and carbonaceous meteorites. Our aim was to determine which indices reliably identify spectral features of interest. Most spectral indices had high positive detection rates when applied to spectra of pure, single‐component materials. The meteorite spectra have fewer and weaker absorption features and, as a result, fewer detections with the spectral indices. Indices targeting absorptions at 0.7 and 2.7–3 μm, which are attributable to hydrated minerals, were most successful for the meteorites. Based on these results, we identified a set of 17 indices that are most likely to be useful at Bennu. These indices detect olivines, pyroxenes, carbonates, water/OH‐bearing minerals, serpentines, ferric minerals, and organics. Particle size and albedo are known to affect band depth but had a negligible impact on interpretive success with spectral indices. Preliminary analysis of the disk‐integrated Bennu spectrum with these indices is consistent with expectations given the observed absorption near 3 μm. Our study prioritizes spectral indices to be used for OSIRIS‐REx spectral analysis and mapping and informs the reliability of all index‐derived data products, including a science value map for sample site selection.