Remote Sensing Gypsum in the Chihuahuan Desert

Plants that require specialized soils display complex but underexplored genetic patterns related to the distribution of the soils on which they live. A group of plants in the Chihuahuan Desert grow exclusively on island-like patches of gypsum, but the sites of these soils have been poorly mapped and incompletely explored. A comprehensive map of Chihuahuan Desert gypsum could help researchers answer questions about island biogeography in gypsophiles. My research focuses on using satellite imagery to remotely sense these gypsum exposures. I have used maximum entropy analysis and applied spectral indices to create large-scale, medium-resolution maps of gypsum in the region