Shortwave Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy for Analysis of Ancient Paintings.

Spectral analysis is one of the main non-destructive techniques used to examine cultural relics. Hyperspectral imaging technology, especially on the shortwave infrared (SWIR) band, can clearly extract information from paintings, such as color, pigment composition, damage characteristics, and painting techniques. All of these characteristics have significant scientific and practical value in the study of ancient paintings and other relics and in their protection and restoration. In this study, an ancient painting, numbered Gu-6541, which had been found in the Forbidden City, served as a sample. A ground-based SWIR imaging spectrometer was used to produce hyperspectral images with high spatial and spectral resolution. Results indicated that SWIR imaging spectral data greatly facilitates the extraction of line features used in drafting, even using a single band image. It can be used to identify and classify mineral pigments used in paintings. These images can detect alterations and traces of daub used in painting corrections and, combined with hyperspectral data analysis methods such as band combination or principal component analysis, such information can be extracted to highlight outcomes of interest. In brief, the SWIR imaging spectral technique was found to have a highly favorable effect on the extraction of line features from drawings and on the identification of colors, classification of paintings, and extraction of hidden information.

Deception Island, Antarctica, harbors a diverse assemblage of wood decay fungi.

Very little is known about fungal diversity in Antarctica as compared to other biomes and how these important organisms function in this unusual ecosystem. Perhaps one of the most unusual ecosystems is that of Deception Island; an active volcanic island part of the South Shetland Islands of the Antarctic Peninsula. Here we describe the fungal diversity associated with historic wood from structures on the island, which reveals a diverse fungal assemblage of known wood decay fungi as well as the discovery of undescribed species. The major group of wood decay fungi identified were species of Cadophora and as shown in previous studies in other geographic regions of Antarctica, they caused a soft-rot type of decay in the introduced woods. Additionally, unlike other areas of Antarctica that have been studied, filamentous basidiomycetes (Hypochniciellum spp. and Pholiota spp.) were also identified that have different modes of degradation including brown and white rot. Matches of fungal sequences to known species in temperate regions likely introduced on building materials indicates human influences and volcanic activity have greatly impacted fungal diversity. Lahars (mudslides from volcanic activity) have partially buried many of the structures and the buried environment as well as the moist, warm soils provided conditions conducive for fungal growth that are not found in other regions of Antarctica. The diverse assemblage of decay fungi and different forms of wood decomposition add to the difficulty of conserving wooden structures at these important polar heritage sites.