Characterizing the Ice-Free Area of Cierva Point (Antarctic Peninsula) Using Reflectance Spectroscopy.

Ice-free areas within the Antarctic Peninsula region are of particular interest due to their rich terrestrial biodiversity. They are often small extensions in isolated areas and the use of visible near infrared reflectance is an ideal tool for characterizing and monitoring their extension and surface covers. The objective of this work was to use reflectance spectroscopy to determine the distribution of terrestrial land surface covers at Cierva Point. A site specific spectral library containing 86 reference spectra was compiled. As a result, a selection of image-derived spectra from multispectral satellite data were easily labeled using the reference spectra. A preliminary distribution has distinguished seven different basic surface covers over the study area.