Hyperspectral imaging of stone biofilms at the macroscopic scale

Abstract

The ability to observe traces of biological material on buildings and stone artworks is of particular importance in understanding how to best deal with them and maybe, in the future, even make use of biofilms for conservation science. We have identified hyperspectral imaging as a viable method for the efficient analysis of such biological materials. Thanks to the high throughput of our approach based on an interferometric method based on Fourier Transform, we were not only able to detect traces of biofilms on stone samples, but also to map in which areas these were found to have higher biological activity.