Secure access to rare Earth minerals is a critical national security issue, as the majority of them discovered so far are in China. DARPA has partnered with HyperSpectral, a company that applies artificial intelligence to spectroscopic data, to find minerals using satellites or drones.
HyperSpectral CEO Matt Thereur explained how spectroscopy works in an exclusive interview with Defense One, emphasizing its use in food safety. Spectroscopy can be used to quickly detect deadly pathogens in large shipments of raw food or identify new strains of medication-resistant bacteria.
The use of artificial intelligence is crucial in analyzing spectroscopic data due to the noisy nature of natural samples. AI is used to identify relationships between different types of spectroscopic analysis and combine them together effectively for accurate results.
Different types of spectroscopic techniques, such as absorbance, reflectance, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Raman, and surface-enhanced Raman, can provide valuable insights into different materials and their properties.
Spectroscopy can be used for intelligence collection, such as identifying specific materials used in enemy equipment, and has vast applications in the Defense Department for better understanding the locations of different materials.
The Pentagon aims to improve access to rare Earth materials and move the production of key weapons and supplies closer to the front lines. Thereur highlighted the wide range of applications for analyzing spectral data and emphasized its significance in various fields.
