Paper No. 23-6
Presentation Time: 1:00 PM-5:00 PM
ASTER BAND-RATIO IMAGES FOR GEOLOGICAL MAPPING IN ARID REGIONS: THE NEOPROTEROZOIC ALLAQI-HEIANI SUTURE, SOUTHERN EGYPT
REN, Dianwei, Department of Geosciences, Univ of Texas at Dallas, 2601 N. Floyd Road, P.O.Box 830688, Richardson, TX 75083-0688, rencui@utdallas.edu and ABDELSALAM, Mohamed G., Department of Geosciences, Univ of Texas at Dallas, 2601 N. Floyd Road, P.O. Box 830688, Richardson, TX 75083-0688

The Advanced Space-borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) imaging system aboard Terra platform consists of three subsystems: (1) Visible and near infrared (VNIR) operating in 3 bands with 15m spatial resolution; (2) Short wave infrared (SWIR) operating in 6 bands with 30m spatial resolution; and (3) Thermal infrared (TIR) operating in 5 bands with 90m spatial resolution. It is challenging to select band-ratios that can be displayed in the Red-Green-Blue (RGB) color combinations that give best results for extracting geological information from ASTER data. The Neoproterozoic Allaqi-Heiani suture in SE Egypt is used as a test site for the development of a methodology for the implementation of the optimum index factor (OIF) technique to rank all RGB color combinations using ASTER band-ratios. The 14 bands of ASTER data produce 182 band-ratios. These band-ratios allow for 988,260 RGB color combinations. All the 988,260 RGB combinations are ranked according to their OIF values in what is referred to as “blind” statistical processing. Blind statistics are then guided by a number of assumptions that are based on the spectral characteristics of the geological materials in the study area. (1) Excluding the TIR bands from the RGB color combinations since they measure emissivity whereas the VNIR and SWIR bands measure reflectivity. (2) When VNIR bands are used, the band-ratio is calculated by dividing the band with the longer wavelength by that which has a shorter wavelength. This is because the spectral curves of most geological materials have a positive slope in the VNIR portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. (3) When SWIR bands are used, the band-ratios are calculated by dividing the band with the shorter wavelength by that which has a longer wavelength. This is because spectral curves of most geological materials have slightly negative slopes in the SWIR portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Our “filtered statistics” showed that ASTER images where band-ratios from the VNIR, SWIR and VNIR/SWIR are used in the RGB color combinations are effective in discriminating between different rock types.

South-Central Section (37th) and Southeastern Section (52nd), GSA Joint Annual Meeting (March 12–14, 2003)
General Information for this Meeting
Session No. 23--Booth# 6
Geoscience Education and Remote Sensing (Posters)
University of Memphis Conference Center: Holiday Inn, Ballroom 2/3
1:00 PM-5:00 PM, Friday, March 14, 2003
 

© Copyright 2003 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.