Bernard Hubbard, funded by the USGS Mineral Resources Program (MRP), is using a variety of spaceborne remote sensing image assets (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), Landsat 8, EO-1 ALI, and Hyperion) to better understand the distribution and formation of laterite clay-hosted rare earth element (REE) deposits in southern China as a guide to exploration for such deposits in the southeastern United States.
Hubbard is also working on a NASA-funded project focused on science applications in preparation for the spaceborne HyspIRI mission, which will contain both a visible through shortwave infrared hyperspectral sensor and a multispectral thermal infrared sensor slated to be on separate orbital platforms. Hubbard is currently investigating the detection of mineralogical and texture changes related to flood and debris flow hazards along alluvial fans draining into the Salton Sea of southern California.